The Diary Of A Young Vampire
by Psycholips
Summary: Alice finds the diaries of Edward's childhood friend & sweetheart Bella. He doesn't remember her though. The Cullens read Bella's diary...What happens when a certain brunette appears in Forks? And Edward suddenly starts remembering everything about her?
1. Attic, birthdays and friends

I groaned as the entire contents of the shelf came down on me. Thank goodness I was a vampire; I would have been flattened in a second. I was in my old home at Chicago, clearing out the attic which was full of dusty stuff. Alice was helping me. I could hear a squeal every time she spotted one of my mother's old gowns. I down know what the hell her problem was; she wouldn't be wearing them anyway.

I mean, this is the 21st century, not the 20th. It was not hard for me; I barely remembered my human life. I had 'died' because of the Spanish Influenza. I brushed my hand against my piano. It had to be mine. The keys were dusty; they produced horrifying sounds. I sighed. I wondered if I was good at the piano as I am now.

"What's this?"

It was Alice's voice. She wasn't squealing for once when she found something.

I took a look at what was in her hand. A diary. It was clean, considering that it had spent at least a century in this attic. It was blue, with a floral border and a silk bookmark; beautiful in a way. The pages were not yellow or brown like of the other books here.

Alice opened the front cover to the first page. A name was written on it in a childish handwriting:

_Isabella Swan_

_September 13, 1912_

"How did a girl's diary end up here? You didn't have any girls living in your attic, did you?" Alice asked with a mischievous grin.

"I don't remember. Besides, I don't think anyone would allow girl's to stay in their attics in 1912." I said.

"You had any cousin's with that name? A friend?"

"I remember my mother mentioning the Swan's." I replied.

"What about them? Were you in love with their daughter?"

"Alice, _please_,"

She didn't have to remind me about my mate-less situation I had been in since the day I was 'born.'

"Okay, Sorry. But do you have any clue who they are?" Alice asked.

"Family friends, I think. I don't remember."

Alice got that mischievous glint in her eyes again. "Why don't we read it? We have nothing better to do."

"I don't know, Alice. Wouldn't that be invading someone's privacy?" I asked.

"This girl is _dead_, Edward. I mean, she wrote it in _1912_."

Okay, so she had a point.

"Yay!" she cheered, already seeing my decision. "The others will want to read it too."

I groaned. Alice smirked at me. After 2 weeks of cleaning the house, Alice, Jasper who was with us, and I left back for Forks were we lived. Alice had found another diary, two days after we got the first one.

_Isabella Swan_

_September 13, 1915_

She took both the diaries with her. Esme was upset when she found out about the diaries, but decided to read anyway.

It was a sunny week in June when we decided to read it. All seven of us were there.

"I'll start reading first." Alice said.

"I don't know what's so interesting about something written 100 years back." Rosalie mumbled.

"We're about to find out." I said.

Alice started reading.

**September 13, 1912.**

**Dear diary, it's the first time I write in you (obviously). I'm so glad Aunty Elizabeth gave me this dairy! I've wanted one for a long time.**

"Elizabeth? As in, your mother?" Emmett asked.

"I guess she is a family friend, then." I said.

"Then you remember her?" Esme asked.

"Not at all."

**Today is my birthday. I'm finally ten years old! It feels wonderful to have a two-digit number for your age.**

"It's even more wonderful having a three-digit number." Carlisle said and we laughed.

**Daddy arranged a great party for me. Jessamine, Angelica, Laura and Rachel were there. That's not the best part though. Guess who Aunty Elizabeth brought to my party?**

"I bet it's you, Eddie." Emmett snickered.

"That couldn't be, I don't remember her." I said.

**Edward!**

"See, I told you." Emmett put on a smug face. "Gosh, ten years old and you already have a girlfriend."

"I don't know her!" I wailed.

**I sometimes wish everyone in the world could have a friend like him. We had been friends for years. Since mommy and Aunty Elizabeth had been great friends, I and Edward had met at a very early age. I am so glad that we had. He is just three years older than me, but Aunty Elizabeth says I'm more mature than him.**

"Oh, Edward." Esme sighed.

**I don't think that it's true though,**

"Of course she wouldn't, she's your girlfriend." Emmett said.

"Emmett!" I hissed.

I didn't know about this girl. Not a bit.

**I think of Edward as a very silent and polite person.**

Esme smiled.

**He only talks to me because we had been friends for so long, and we had the same taste in music. We both loved piano music, and recently, Edward's father, Edward Senior, bought him a grand piano. He goes for lessons, and I must admit, he's excellent as a beginner. I feel very jealous of him. When mommy takes me to the Masen's house to see Aunty Elizabeth, Edward and I go to his room and he plays the piano for me.**

"How romantic," Rosalie commented.

I growled at her, and everyone laughed.

**So today, after the party, we went to his house. He said he had a surprise for me. It was a beautiful surprise, diary. He wrote a song for me!**

"That's so sweet of you, Edward." Esme beamed.

"I don't remember." I said simply.

**It was so wonderful; I could listen to it for hours. But unfortunately, mommy called me after three hours.**

"**Goodbye, Bella. And happy birthday again." Edward wished.**

"**Thank you." I said shyly.**

"**Come again soon, Renee. And bring Bella, too." Aunty Elizabeth said before we left.**

"Bella. Such a lovely name." Esme sighed.

"Edward thinks so too, don't you, Eddie?" Emmett asked.

"Whatever. I don't remember." I grumbled.

"You don't remember such a good friend?" Jasper asked.

I shrugged.

"It's not his fault. I don't remember _anything_." Alice said reassuringly.

**So I left unwillingly, came home, opened my gifts, found you and went to my room. And I wrote on you, and now mommy's calling me for dinner so I better go. And I have to finish my lessons for tomorrow or the governess won't be so happy with me.**

"Governess?" Emmett asked.

"Her parents won't allow her to go to school back then. Only boys could go." Rosalie said.

"That's sad. She'll miss the time with Eddie."

I glared at him.

**Oh, and I forgot to mention. My name is Isabella Swan, but everyone calls me Bella.**

Everybody laughed at that.

**Umm, I smell fresh bread, diary. And I also hear my mother screaming, so I probably ought to go. I will write on you when something interesting happens. Goodnight, Bella.**

"Definitely interesting," Carlisle said.

"Yeah, reading Edward and Bella's romance history is definitely interesting." Rosalie said sarcastically.

"Oh, come on, Rose. You want to read more." Alice said.

"No I don't!" Rosalie said.

"You're lying." Jasper said, smiling.

Rosalie sighed. "Yeah, so I do."

Emmett smiled. "I want to know more as well."

"Me too. It's nice to know that Edward had such a wonderful friend." Esme said.

"Well, _I_ don't want to read it." I said.

"It's 6 against 1. So we continue reading." Alice said, smirking, as she handed the diary to Rosalie. Rosalie hesitated before starting to read.


	2. Cuts, horse whips and hospitals

**3****rd**** person POV:**

"Hey, this page has some dried water on it." Rosalie said as she examined it. Thanks to her enhanced optical powers, she could see the tiny drops of dried water.

"Maybe she slipped something there," Jasper suggested. "Why don't you continue reading?"

"What if she was crying?" Esme asked.

"Why don't we just read?" Alice asked, annoyed.

Rosalie started reading.

**September 16 Friday**

**Dear diary, excuse me for crying like a little girl,**

"She is a little girl." Carlisle said.

Esme was upset, knowing that the girl had been crying.

**But I can't help it. Today was one of those days which I called really bad. Something bad happens one day, and when the next bad situation comes, I think it's worse than the last one. This is something quite like that. Let me tell you what happened. I woke up late, around 6 O' clock.**

"Isn't that early?" Emmett asked.

"Not for her." Edward said.

"You know her, huh?" Emmett asked with a sly grin.

"No! I was just saying what was probable."

**And mommy and daddy were having a fight. I didn't get any breakfast for rising late. After mommy made me clean all the dishes, I went up for my lessons. Well, diary, I happened to forget that I had a book to read yesterday. The governess, Geraldine Banner was so really angry! I couldn't blame her. So she took the thing right next to her to beat me with. It happened to be some sort of rope.**

"Oh, the poor dear," Esme sighed.

Rosalie's eyelids tightened, but she didn't say anything.

**And she didn't teach me anything today. She made me read the entire book right there while watching me like a hawk. She asked me some questions, too. I wasn't really paying attention to what I was reading, I was too scared. And she used the rope again, and this time it hurt much worse than the last one. When she left, I examined the damage. I really can't ignore the huge, straight red marks diary, there is about sixteen of them and it hurts so much!**

"Why can't she tell her mom?" Emmett asked.

"Maybe she thinks she'll get into more trouble." Jasper suggested.

"But those rashes could get infected. That would be a bit of a problem." Carlisle said.

"Maybe someone will find out. I bet they won't be angry if the cuts are _that_ bad." Alice said.

"Of course it would be bad, Alice. The lady used a _rope_." Edward said.

Alice and Emmett exchanged a knowing look and Jasper snickered.

**Of course, I can't tell mommy or daddy. They would be even angrier. So I'm hoping Edward would come soon. He understands me better than anyone, and he's the most trustable friend I have. My plans were interrupted when I got a sudden visit from Aunt Patricia, my mother's sister. She happened to bring one navy blue gown which would show my cuts very nicely.**

"Oh, no…" Alice gasped.

**Mommy wanted me to wear it. I said I would wear it tomorrow, I was too tired.**

"**Isabella, Patricia came from so far away! Show some respect." Mommy scolded.**

"**The girl's tired, Renee. Let her rest." Daddy said.**

**I smiled and eagerly went to bed. And that's how I'm sitting right here, writing on you with just one candle to light up everything. Pray that Edward will come tomorrow. Goodnight, diary.**

"That's it?" Emmett asked.

Rosalie nodded.

"Then read the next page!" Alice cried.

**Good morning, diary. It's a good thing I don't have any classes today. I don't think I can take more of the governess again. Actually there's more than that. Let me tell you about my morning. I woke up to see a pair of emerald eyes looking at me with utmost curiosity. Edward was standing there with a crooked grin I loved.**

Edward smiled crookedly, and Alice rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing in her bedroom, Edward?" Jasper teased.

Edward growled at him.

"**Good morning, sleepyhead." Edward said.**

"**Morning," I wished, yawning and rubbing my eyes.**

"**What is **_**that**_**?" Edward asked all of a sudden. **

**I gasped and pulled the covers over me, horrified.**

"Oh my god, Edward! You didn't-" Emmett burst out laughing, and so did Alice and Jasper.

"I think I mean her _cuts_." Edward hissed.

**Dear me, I hope he hadn't seen those cuts…what would he think? This was strange because I had wanted to tell him about this. Oh, diary, this is all so strange.**

"**Bella, what happened?" Edward whispered frantically.**

**I shook my head violently.**

"**Bella, you can tell me. You can trust me. Did someone hurt you?" Edward whispered again.**

**He looked so concerned, so scared, his green eyes burning into my brown ones.**

"Aaawww!!" Alice said.

"It's good that you're so concerned, Edward." Esme beamed.

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm her friend." Edward said, shrugging.

Emmett tried to control his laughter.

"**Umm…" I mumbled, not knowing what to say.**

"**Bella," Edward sighed, shaking his head. "Please."**

"**All right, but promise me you won't tell anyone." **

**Edward hesitated. "You know I can't do that." He said.**

"**I can't do that if you don't." I replied.**

"Why did she have to be so damn stubborn?" Edward groaned.

"**Bella, this could be serious." He said, obviously getting annoyed.**

"**Let it be. I deserve it anyway." I said.**

"**Oh, really? How may that be possible?"**

"**Uh, I don't know-"**

"**You don't know."**

"**That's what I said."**

"**Bella, please. For me?" **

**Ugh, I hate it when he does that pathetic-puppy look.**

"Doesn't she mean puppy-dog face?" Emmett asked, confused.

"This was written hundred years ago, Emmett." Rosalie replied calmly.

"**But you'll tell!"**

"**Only if I have to."**

"**Fine then, Mrs. Banner hit me."**

**Edward gasped. "With what?"**

"**A rope," I said. "Does it really matter?"**

"**Bella, was it this reddish brown rope? Like, the one with my hair ****colour****?"**

"Nice description, Edward." Alice said, laughing.

**Yes it was.**

"**No." I lied.**

"What?" Edward asked, confused.

"**That's good. That rope was a really old one. It belongs to father, and it's used to whip some horses. The horses got infected, so father wanted Charles to take a look. Which rope was it then?" Edward asked, relieved.**

**I gulped. My father was an expert when it comes to horses and whips, so it made sense why Edward Senior gave it to him. Aunty Elizabeth must have been here to take it back and Edward must have tagged along…**

**Oh no. **_**The horses got infected.**_

**If the horses, having such hard skin got infected by the rope, then what would it do to me?**

"Why did she have to lie?" Edward groaned.

"Maybe she doesn't trust you." Emmett said happily.

Edward frowned.

"**Uh, I think it was a yellow rope." I said, trying to make my lie sound genuine.**

**Edward studied my face carefully for a moment.**

"**You're lying." **

"Good thing you figured it out." Jasper said.

**I couldn't stop the tears that fell from my eyes. This was just so absurd, I was crying pathetically. I couldn't believe that I had lied to Edward. Edward, my best friend, my confidante, my companion for many years…**

"**Don't cry!" Edward whispered, and he wiped my tears away with the tip of his finger.**

Emmett cleared his throat, trying to suppress his laughter.

Alice sighed. "This is too romantic to be the diary of a 10 year old. Maybe it's a novel she wrote." She said.

"I don't think so. It all sound so real to me." Esme said.

"But Edward doesn't remember anything. And here, they're both so close. He could have remembered at least something." Jasper said.

"Edward used to be very close to his mother too. And he doesn't remember her." Carlisle said.

Rosalie shrugged and kept on reading.

"**I'm so sorry, Edward. I feel so…hopeless." I sobbed.**

"**Hopeless?" **

"**She's been bothering me so much. I loathe it, but I'm expected to keep my mouth shut and suffer it all."**

"Poor girl, she's so depressed." Jasper said.

"And hopeless," Esme added sadly.

"**That's not true. If you tell them about what she has done to you, your father will definitely dismiss her without a moment's hesitation."**

"**Really?"**

"**Bella, I'm fighting the urge to go downstairs and beat her to pulp at the moment. Do you understand now?" **

**I gulped. **

**Edward had never been violent, he'd always been the sweet, gentle boy I had ever met. This was the first time that I heard such a threat from him.**

"**Surely, you wouldn't?" I asked, a little nervous.**

"**Not if you are around." **

**I smiled, and he did too. Then his expression changed.**

"**Bella, we have to tell your parents. You can't keep this a secret for too long. It's too dangerous." **

**I sighed and agreed, knowing that he had already won.**

"But it's a good thing." Edward said, smiling.

"It sure is." Carlisle said.

**Edward was right. The governess was dismissed. I was taken to the hospital. Edward came with me. I hated the smell of medicines which would greet me when I opened the door, but it was not as bad with Edward near me.**

"**Go right in, Isabella." A nurse said, opening the door for me.**

**Edward waited outside while I and mommy went inside. The doctor was much younger and handsome than I expected him to be.**

"Could it be you?" Esme asked Carlisle.

"It could be." Carlisle replied, frowning.

**Dr. Carlisle Cullen was one of the best doctors they had in the hospital. **

"It is you." Esme said in wonder.

All of them were surprised.

**He applied something which stung and tied my hand in some white cloth and told me to wash it frequently. I smiled at him, got outside, wished Edward goodnight and now I'm here, writing on you. Goodnight diary. Oh, and bless Edward for being such a dear.**

Esme beamed at the last sentence.

"Do you remember her, Carlisle?" Rosalie asked.

"Not really. I might recognize her, but not as Bella, or as Edward's friend, but as a patient." Carlisle replied.

"Who wants to read next?" Alice asked.

"I do!" Emmett and Esme said at the same time.

Esme smiled. "You can read, Emmett. But I'll read next." She said.

Emmett grinned and took the diary from Rosalie.


	3. Competition, fights and hopes

Emmett looked at the book for a second before reading.

"How old is this, anyway?" he asked.

"Probably a century, perhaps more or less," Carlisle replied.

**September 24**

**Diary, I'm in a rush, so I'll make this quick. Edward- **

"Why is this always about Edward?" Jasper asked, smiling.

"It's like the whole diary is dedicated to him." Alice agreed.

Edward glared at them.

**-Is taking part in a competition. Not just any one, it's supposedly a very prestigious one. I'm sure Edward will win; he plays the piano so well. He said he was going to play my song, and that what makes it more special. Wish him luck, diary. I'll write in the night.**

**Diary, I'm back and very happy too. Edward didn't get the first prize, but he got the second, which was enough for me. His father looked disappointed though. But can you blame Edward? He was the youngest pianist there. He deserves a lot more than the credit he got. But diary, before he played the song, he said he had an announcement to make.**

"**I dedicate this song to my best friend, Bella." **

Alice and Esme aww'ed. Emmett rolled his eyes. Edward smiled stupidly, and Jasper chuckled.

**I was bursting with happiness. I smiled like an idiot, and he smiled back at me. We hugged, wished goodnight, and now I'm here. I know it was really short, but it's late now, and I'm feeling sleepy. Good night.**

"I like her." Esme announced.

"Too bad cause she's _dead_!!!" Emmett screamed, emphasizing the word 'dead'.

Edward and Esme both flinched at that, and Rosalie swatted the back of Emmett's head.

"Ow! Sorry, baby." Emmett whimpered.

"Just keep reading." Rosalie snapped.

**September 30****th**

**I just had a fight with my mother. She thinks I spent too much time with books. **

"But that's a good thing." Jasper said.

"Her mother doesn't think so." Edward said, biting his lip.

"Why not?" Jasper asked.

"I suppose she wants Bella to learn how to manage a house." Esme said, smiling.

"Ugh, that's _so_ annoying. I remember a bit of my mom doing that. Thank goodness I don't have to do any of that _here_." Rosalie said, grinning at Esme.

**She says books are for boys! How infuriating is that! She says I should learn how to cook and sew, not bury my head in a book all day.**

"**A book won't help you find a good husband, Bella." She said.**

"**I have eight more years till I think of marriage, mother." I said.**

The Cullens laughed.

"**It's better if you start doing things from now, Bella. I'm saying this for your own good." **

"**You taught me to do as I pleased, and be an independent woman. What happened to all that?"**

"**Independence comes with a lot of duties."**

"**Let it. What I think is, I want a proper education, since you failed to give me one. I'm doing the best I can to study by myself. All I'm asking for is a little support."**

"**You don't need an education, Isabella."**

"**I don't think that is for you to decide, mother. I go by my wishes. And what man would need a wife who is illiterate and without a sense? Father has taught me about the knowledge books can give me-" **

"**Books cannot teach you how to maintain a home!"**

"**As if you know very well how to maintain one! You don't even care about the wishes of your daughter."**

"**Your wishes are of no concern to me, Isabella. What I care about is your future."**

"**You know what, mother? I might get a proper husband, but I'll never be happy. The lack of comfort and love from a mother can do strange things to a girl."**

"**Are you saying that I don't love you, Isabella?"**

"**If you loved me, you would want me to be happy."**

"**All I want is for you to be alive and well."**

"**Well? Is that all you wish me to be? Are you really my mother?"**

**That earned me a slap.**

"Poor girl, she was just being brave and sensible." Esme mumbled.

"How come Edward isn't here to save the day?" Emmett asked teasingly.

"I expect he'll be there soon." Alice said, smiling.

**Renee has a habit of being non-violent, but when she strikes, that is **_**hard**_**. I don't know why diary, but I seem to be gifted with super-sensitive skin. My cheek is bright red. Father saw it and his face turned the same color. He asked me what happened, and I told him.**

**I don't think he was angry with me. I heard him shouting to Renee, and Renee shouting back. I hear them mention my name in between. I went to the market, expecting-**

"To see Edward, of course," Emmett said, grinning.

**-To see Edward. I guess it really is a bad day. I didn't see him. But I'm sure I'll see him in the next week. It's Elizabeth's birthday. **

**4****th**** October**

**Today was Elizabeth's birthday. I got my hopes up, expecting to see Edward. Well, me, being the unlucky girl I am, got to have my hopes crushed again. Edward is down with the flu.**

"I bet she wouldn't care if she got the flu," Alice said, smiling at Edward. "If it means she gets too meet you."

**I don't really care if I get the flu; at least seeing Edward would brighten up my mood.**

"His too, I'm sure." Emmett smirked.

**The party was good, except I'm not much of a sociable person. I prefer sticking to myself. The closest I would go to was Edward. Not even Jess. Edward is just like me. I guess that's why we're good friends.**

"Good!" Emmett cried mockingly. "They are so much better than good!"

Edward growled at him.

**Anyway, I hope I'll see him soon. There's nothing terribly interesting going on these days, just me and my rotten life. Urgh, I'm starting to sound like a depressed teenager. Bye, diary.**

"Nothing terribly interesting, eh? That girl is in for a surprise." Carlisle said sadly.

"What surprise?" Emmett asked.

"The War is close." Jasper said, shaking his head.

"I hope she'll be safe." Esme said in a worried tone.

"I don't think she'll be. The last date on the second diary is only about five days after Edward's change. Either she died of the war, or the Influenza." Alice said, looking grim.

"Man, she would have made nice company." Emmett said, frowning.

"At least she lived till she was sixteen years old." Rosalie said.

"But it's still so young." Esme said, shaking her head.

"Geez, it's so hard to believe all this really happened." Edward said.

"You still don't remember?" Jasper asked disbelievingly.

"Not a thing." Edward replied.

"Let's keep reading, shall we?" Alice asked, trying to brighten up the sad faces of her family. Esme took the diary and started reading.


	4. Biloxi, Mary and pasts

Esme stopped before reading. "It's near Christmas."

"I bet Bella and Eddie will be up to some very Christmassy fun." Emmett said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"They are only _ten_, Emmett," Rosalie said, rolling her eyes.

**22****nd ****December**

**Dear diary, its Christmas time again! Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. Partly because I get presents, and partly because I go with my parents to new places. Can you guess where we're going this year?**

"Forks?" Emmett asked stupidly.

"Why would it be Forks? People go to sunny places for winter vacations." Jasper said.

Emmett shrugged.

**Biloxi! **

"Biloxi? Of all the places they could go to, why Biloxi?" Rosalie asked.

"It's a beautiful place." Alice said.

"True," Carlisle agreed.

**To be truthful, I'm not that thrilled, but I don't want to start any new fights. I and mother hadn't been talking for two months. **

"They still hadn't made up?" Jasper asked.

**Then there's Edward. **

"Of course, she can't leave you." Alice said, grinning.

Edward glared at her.

**He was better in a week. Sorry about not writing that sooner. I feel terrible for not writing to you for a long time. Anyway, we're going to Biloxi, bla, bla, bla…Goodnight, diary. I'm leaving day after tomorrow.**

"Then she'll have time to say goodbye to you." Emmett said, smirking.

**24****th**** December **

**It's Christmas Eve! I have this really nice Santa hat on. Mary does, too.**

"Mary?" Rosalie asked.

"Probably a friend she got." Alice said, shrugging.

**Let me introduce you to my new friend.**

"See?" Alice said, smirking.

**Mary Alice Brandon is living near the place we're staying. She's my age, except she looks a lot different. She's really thin, has long black hair and green eyes like Edward's. She looks like a pixie.**

Jasper frowned. "It looks like a description of you." He said.

"Except for the name and long hair," Edward said.

"Her middle name is Alice." Carlisle said.

"And I remember being in Biloxi in my first months…I read a sign somewhere…" Alice mumbled.

The Cullen's looked totally surprised. All of their mouths were wide open.

"It could be a coincidence." Rosalie said.

"Many girls have the name Alice, they're thin and pixie-like and they have black hair too?" Edward said.

"And live in Biloxi," Jasper added.

"A very, very strange coincidence," Rosalie said.

"Let's read!" Emmett wailed.

**And she's very talkative and chirpy.**

"Like Alice," Edward said.

"Keep reading." Rosalie hissed.

**I thought I could never have a friend other than Edward. I guess I'm very wrong. I finally have another friend. But I'll have to go back soon. That means leaving Mary. I get a little sad every time I think about going back. I'm enjoying my stay here very much, thanks to Mary. **

**Mary is unlike any girl I've met before. She's funny, brave, kind and just wonderful. That's not the best part. She has a talent for telling what's about to happen.**

The diary slipped from Esme's hand and fell on the floor with a soft thud.

"It is you." Jasper whispered.

Alice bit her lip, not knowing what to say.

"I don't think it's a coincidence anymore." Rosalie admitted.

"Wow, now we can know about Alice!" Emmett said.

"Don't you think this is weird? First Edward, then Carlisle, and now its me!" Alice said,

"It _is_ very strange," Carlisle said.

"Maybe she'll meet me next." Esme said with a smile.

"Wouldn't that be funny, Bella meeting every one of us?" Edward said angrily.

"What is the problem with that?" Rosalie asked.

"Nothing. Could you keep reading, Esme?" Edward asked politely.

Esme took the diary from the floor and started reading.

**And she's right every time! She's guessing all my presents now. I told her not to ruin the surprise for me. When I told her I would miss her, she told me that we could write to each other. I'm very thrilled with the idea. Maybe one day, years from now, I could visit her. I think that would be quite fun. Anyway, I'm glad I got a new friend. Mary is absolutely wonderful. Good as Edward. And it's been only two days since I've known her! Goodnight, diary. I'll tell you about my presents tomorrow.**

The Cullen's were silent.

"Who wants to read next?" Esme asked.

Jasper silently took the diary, squeezing Alice's hand.

* * *

**_Thanks for the awesome idea of including Alice in the story!!_**

**Thank you for all the wonderful comments I've got!!! **


	5. Highheels, Christmas dinner and pictures

**26****th**** December**

**I'm back at home (sadly.).**

"But Eddie's there." Emmett said, pouting.

Edward glared at him. "Would you please stop, Emmett? We're just ten."

"_We're just ten_. It's still the start of a…" Emmett coughed. "New relationship,"

Edward gritted his teeth, but said nothing.

**I guess I'm sad because I had to leave Mary. And then I tripped when I came in. It hurt, and I expected some help from mother, but all she gave me was a cold look, and said, "Learn to walk like a lady, Isabella."**

"That is so unfair!" Alice said, and Esme nodded.

"**Do you think I fell on purpose?" I asked.**

Emmett grinned. "She's good."

"**I'm just saying that you should be careful." She said simply.**

**I just stared at her for a long time. "Would it hurt you to act like a mother?" I asked.**

**I got a slap for that.**

"Why is she always getting hurt?" Edward groaned.

"Cause you're not there." Jasper replied, smiling.

Edward rolled his eyes.

**Can you guess what she gave me for Christmas, diary?**

"Fancy gowns?" Rosalie asked.

"Maybe high heeled shoes," Alice said, smiling.

"Yeah, that would help a lot." Emmett said, grinning.

"The hospital might get frequent visits from her." Carlisle chuckled.

Edward stared at Carlisle, wide-eyed.

"Not that I want them." Carlisle added, quickly.

**High- heeled stupid shoes!**

Alice grinned.

**Of course, Mary had warned me about the 'danger lurking behind the golden package.' Maybe I should take her more seriously from now. At least, dad has a sensible mind. He gave me a new diary, saying that "You write too much in this, I'm surprised it's not over by now. You'll need one more."**

"I suppose that's the other diary." Esme said, pointing to the green diary resting on Edward's lap. He was stroking it carefully, like it was some very precious treasure. No one had noticed.

"Edward, what are you doing?" Esme asked gently.

"Huh?" Edward said, confused. He looked around. Emmett was the first to spot his hand. He started laughing and pointing, and Edward drew his hand away from the diary, jumping slightly.

By now, all the Cullen's were laughing.

**It was too bad that I couldn't exchange any gifts with Edward. Mary gave me a chain, which I'm wearing now.**

Alice smiled.

**I had gotten her a nice pair of earrings.**

"Your ear's not pierced." Jasper said, slightly shocked.

"Then it must be magnetic earrings. Or maybe my earring hole got covered before I was changed." Alice said, shrugging.

"How is that possible?" Rosalie asked.

"The flesh can grow back to cover the hole when an earring hasn't been worn for a long time. Or maybe it was the venom." Carlisle said.

Jasper frowned, but kept reading.

**There are new books coming today. And then I'll have to help with the Christmas dinner.**

"I love Christmas dinners. Especially the one you find behind that valley." Emmett said, grinning.

Rosalie smacked the back of his head.

**I'll see you soon or maybe next year. Bye.**

"I guess its next year then." Jasper said, looking at the date.

**2****nd**** January, 1913**

**Happy New Year. It's finally 1913. Mother's not much happy, though. 13 is an unlucky number, she says. Rubbish, in my option. I've been so busy these days, attending my 'lady classes'.**

"Whassat?" Emmett asked.

"Manners, cooking, dancing…Everything to get a good husband and a decent place in society," Rosalie said through gritted teeth.

"Oh." Emmett said stupidly.

**My back is killing me; my toes are the color of Edward's hair-**

Everyone laughed, and Edward looked embarrassed.

**And Edward claims that I look like a living dummy.**

"That's not a nice thing to say, Edward. She's working so hard!" Esme scolded.

**Maybe it is true. All I want to do is crawl into my bed and sleep for the rest of my life. Everything has gotten so boring, I don't know what to do except pray that something good and exciting happens. Which is a rarity in a place like this, so I'm not getting my hopes up. **

**I meet occasionally with Edward. He doesn't have any more free time these days. All the weekdays, he would be in school, and on weekends, he would be studying. It's so irritating, and I'm feeling completely lonely.**

Edward looked sad.

**I'm waiting for Mary to write to me. I wrote to her earlier this morning. I'm feeling a little sleepy, so I'm going up to my bedroom. Bye.**

"This diary is so drab! Why can't something interesting happen?" Emmett groaned.

"The next pages are quite interesting." Jasper said, peering down at the white pages. They were filled with drawing.

"She's really good at this." Esme commented, smiling at the pictures.

The pictures were mostly of fruit baskets, gardens, houses, people walking in the streets and old shops. Jasper opened it to a page where there was a picture of a man, and then a woman.

'**Mother and Father', it was written.**

Edward studied the picture for a long time, trying to remember the faces. Everyone looked at him expectantly.

"I can't remember." He said, shaking his head sadly.

Jasper turned the page again, and Edward gasped. The picture was of a woman who looked like Edward, except that she was less perfect.

"Ah. Your mother." Carlisle said, rubbing his chin.

Edward bit his lip and looked at the photo carefully. After some time, Jasper turned the page. The rest of the pages were pictures of girls in fancy gowns.

Jessamine was a girl with light brown hair pulled into two plaits. She had coffee brown eyes and was wearing a long blue gown.

Angelica had curly black hair and hazel eyes, Laura had brown hair, dark brown eyes and Rachel had blond hair and blue eyes.

"Too bad there are no pictures of Bella." Carlisle said.

"Do you think you could remember her? If you saw her picture, I mean." Jasper asked.

"Yeah, you could recognize your mom." Rosalie said.

"I think I could." Edward said.

"But we didn't see any pictures of her in the attic." Alice said.

"That's too bad. Maybe we could do some research." Esme said.

She smiled as Edward silently took the diary from her.


	6. Rain dance, Cake and Letters

Edward began reading.

**June 21, 1913**

"A day after your birthday." Esme said.

"I wonder what happened…" Carlisle said.

**I wish I had given the thought - 'be careful what you wish for'- a little more consideration. Something interesting did happen, but it's not exactly the best.**

"I bet she got hurt again." Emmett said, smiling.

**No, I didn't fall or something. It just happens to be a mild fever. And here I am, lying in bed and wondering what I should get Edward for his birthday, when the doctor comes in and happily says that I'll have to be in bed for a week. **

"Happily? I don't think it's you, then." Jasper said to Carlisle.

"No, I don't think so too." Carlisle said.

**Well, good for him. He'll get money from my medicines. And I'll be the one to suffer- nasty cough syrups and angry words from mother for getting sick.**

"But it's not Bella's fault." Rosalie said. "Uh, her mother is so unfair!"

"The poor girl. I hope you'll be comforting her soon, Edward." Esme said pointedly to Edward.

"Of course he will! He is her…" Emmett stopped when he saw Edward's face.

**I can't blame her. I shouldn't have been out in the rain for so long. But it was so much fun, diary! We so rarely get any rain down here. And Edward had the whole day off as well. **

"You were dancing in the rain with her?" Emmett asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Hmm, maybe it would be like that scene from Notebook." Jasper said, smirking.

They high-fived, while Edward glared.

"Would it hurt you two to grasp the fact that we're only ten?" he asked.

"You're eleven." Alice said.

"Still young," Edward muttered.

"But getting older…" Emmet said.

Edward just shook his head angrily.

**It was the day of my life. And Edward's too, according to him. We jumped in the mud and splashed each other with water. I managed to get some mud into Edward's mouth- unfortunately.**

"Ooh, I wonder what Eddie's gonna do." Emmett said, grinning evilly.

**And that's why I turned up home soaking from head to toe. Mother was too disgusted to slap me, so she waited till I was completely dry.**

"I hate that woman." Rosalie hissed.

"She's being so cruel. Poor Bella." Alice said, sighing.

**I hated missing Edward's birthday. I felt horrible. Well, not for long. Edward came to see **_**me**_**. Luckily, he hadn't caught a fever like me. **

"**Happy birthday." I croaked when he came in, smiling.**

"**God, Bella, you sound awful." He remarked.**

"Well, isn't that nice to say." Alice said, glaring at Edward.

Esme was giving Edward a hard look and so was Rosalie.

"**Thanks for the compliment." I said.**

Everyone laughed at that.

"**No, really. I'm sorry you're sick. I'm sorry **_**I**_** made you sick." He apologized, looking terribly guilty.**

"**It's not your fault, Edward. I had lots of fun and that's all matters." I said.**

"_**We**_** had lots of fun." Edward corrected.**

"Of course you did!" Emmett said, throwing his head back and laughing.

"I wonder what _fun_ you had." Alice said, smiling.

"She told it already. Splashing, jumping…" Edward hissed.

"Jumping?" Jasper asked, raising his eyebrows.

Rosalie, Alice and Emmett burst out laughing. Carlisle and Esme were smiling despite themselves.

"Ugh! You guys are hopeless!" Edward groaned.

"**True." I said.**

"**Uh…since you couldn't come for my birthday, I brought you something." Edward said nervously.**

"A big, sloppy ki-" Emmett stopped, seeing Edward's face- again.

"**But you're the birthday boy!" I said, laughing.**

**My throat hurt.**

"**And you're the patient…Close your eyes, Bella. No peeking." Edward.**

Alice started humming.

Edward's jaw tensed, but he kept reading.

**I did.**

"**Open your mouth."**

No one could help themselves. All the Cullen's burst out laughing. Edward looked mortified.

"No freaking way!" Emmett gasped in between fits of laughter.

"**This is weird." I said, opening my mouth.**

**I could sense Edward standing right near my bed.**

**And then it was all sugar and cream.**

"_Sugar and cream? _What sort of a description is that? It's supposed to be noisy and wet, not _sugar and cream_." Emmett said, pouting.

"All first kisses are not like yours, Emmett." Edward said, rolling his eyes. His eyes flashed when he realized his mistake.

"_First kiss_? First _kiss_?" Alice asked, shocked.

"I'm just saying that Emmett and Rosalie's _first kiss_ was…well, you can imagine." Edward said defensively.

"Oh, yeah." Alice had no arguments there.

**I opened my eyes and grasped it lightly with my warm hand. It tasted absolutely delicious. Of course, that was to be expected. The best birthday cake for someone like him…**

"_Cake_? Damn, that ruins it all." Jasper said, annoyed.

"It's very sweet of you to bring her cake when she's sick, Edward." Esme said, smiling proudly at Edward. "Excuse the pun, please." She added quickly.

Alice nodded in approval.

"What does she mean, _someone like him_?" Edward asked, confused.

"A spoilt brat, of course." Rosalie said, smirking.

**And we both laughed and talked…for five minutes, barely. I had to kick him out, figuratively, before he caught my germs.**

**Diary, I have to go. My maid says I have a letter. It's from Mary. Bye.**

"I wonder if we'll get to see the letter." Jasper said curiously.

Edward turned the page, and an old, yellowed piece of paper was found in it. On the top of the page was written- First letter sent by Mary.

"First? I suppose you'll be sending her a lot of letters, then." Carlisle said, smiling.

"I'll read, then." Alice said, taking the diary from Edward.


	7. Asylum, haunted house and Ephraim Black

**Dear Bella, this is going to be my first and last letter to you.**

"Huh?" Jasper asked, slightly panicked.

"That's definitely a weird starting." Emmett said, looking at Alice.

"Alice is weird." Edward said, shrugging.

Alice glared at him and kept reading.

**Remember when I told you about not telling my mama about my fortune-telling?**

"Bella told?" Edward asked.

**She found out, Bella. No, I'm not blaming you. It happens to be your mother.**

"I hate that woman." Rosalie hissed again.

"Me too." Jasper and Alice said together.

**And last day, we were going for a picnic when I saw bad weather. I told them not to go. Mama said I was being silly, but papa said that it did look rainy. So we didn't go. When it rained, mama took me into the room and asked me how I knew. I told her that it was just a guess. Of course, I'm not such a convincing liar, so she didn't believe me.**

**And now, she told me to pack up, that I'm going somewhere. **

Everyone was tense. They already knew where Alice was being sent to.

**She told me that I could write one last letter, and that I wrote to you. You're my only friend, Bella. **

"Of course, she's always a friend to the soon-to-be vampires." Emmett said, trying to lighten up the mood.

**I heard papa and mama arguing. I heard them, debating whether or not to send me **_**there**_**. An asylum, Bella. An asylum is where I'm going to be sent to. **

Alice's voice broke a bit. Jasper gently tightened his hold on her shoulder.

"Should I read?" he asked.

"No. I want to find out what happens." Alice said, shaking her head.

**I'm not thrilled, Bella. Not at all. I don't want to go. I don't want to leave papa and my little Cynthia. **

"Cynthia?" Carlisle asked.

"You have a sister?" Emmett asked.

"Had," Edward said. "Probably."

**You remember Cynthia, don't you? My little sister, with the two red plaits and my green eyes? She came in this morning when I was packing, and asked where I'm going. I told her that I was going on a trip on my own. She told me that she wanted to go, too. **

"She really likes you." Esme said, smiling.

"And I can't even remember." Alice said, pouting a bit.

**I told her that she couldn't. Poor thing, she looked like she was going to cry. But she's only two years old. She would forget me. But you won't, Bella. I know you won't forget me. You're a wonderful person, I know that.**

"And so does Eddie." Emmett said.

**I really hope you have a wonderful life ahead of you. Goodbye, with lots of love, Mary.**

Alice turned the page.

"Oh!" she said all of a sudden.

It was a picture of a girl, about eleven or twelve years old. She had long black hair tied into a French plait, behind her back. Her eyes were pale green, and she was short, with a pixie-like face.

"Guess that claims it. You are Bella's friend." Jasper said.

"And quite proud to be, too," Alice said.

"You look cute when you're a human kid, shortie." Emmett said.

"Yeah, you look good with all the hair." Rosalie said.

"So how come it's short right now?" Esme asked.

Jasper slowly stroked Alice's spiky hair, smiling.

"I like it this way." He said. "And you had pretty eyes. Still do,"

Alice smiled back at him.

"They must have cut her hair in the asylum." Carlisle said.

"It's a good thing that Bella's such a good artist." Edward said.

Emmett and Jasper looked at each other and exchanged knowing smiles, while Edward, as usual, glared at them. Alice shrugged, and turned the page again.

**May 3****rd**

"Isn't that a long time?" Emmett asked.

"Emmett, did you ever pass first grade?" Edward asked.

"Don't remember, dude." Emmett said, shrugging.

Rosalie glared at him.

"I married an idiot." she moaned.

**Good news, diary. The house next to us, the old gothic styled one, which ahs been empty for months is finally going to be filled. It gives me the creeps, you know. There's a window on my room, facing a window from that house. The window is broken, so I can see the room inside.**

**Trust me, it's not beautiful.**

"Cool, a haunted house." Jasper said.

"Maybe Carlie the bad vampie lives there without anyone knowing." Emmett said, grinning at Carlisle.

"Ugh!" Rosalie screamed. "Would it hurt you to act like a man, Emmett?"

"Naw, but I don't wanna try." Emmett said, and got a smack on his head by Rosalie.

**The insides are covered with cobwebs, and I secretly wonder if it has any coffins.**

"With Carlie the bad vampie in it," Emmett added.

Rosalie squeezed her eyes shut. _Really, what was I thinking?_

"Nothing, obviously." Edward told her.

"Stupid mind-reading vampire." Emmett muttered.

**Last week, some people came in to clean it up, and now it looks very pretty. Not as pretty as Edward's house though. **

"Pretty? What a nice description." Esme said, smiling.

**There's a branch from the oak tree in my house, a long one, that directly leads tot eh other window. I can very easily climb through and get to the other window, but I'm too scared to try it, though. Edward tried it once.**

"To show-off, I bet." Alice said.

"Probably." Edward said, smiling.

"Showing-off is bad manners, Edward." Esme scolded.

"But he has to show-off! How else is he supposed to hook up with Bella?" Emmett asked.

Edward buried his head in his hands and moaned softly.

_It's no use, Edward. Emmett's not going to stop anytime soon, _Alice thought.

**I was so scared that he'd fall down.**

"**Relax, Bella. I'm not going to fall down." He said.**

"**But what if you do?" I asked.**

"**I'll be lucky, then. You'll feel bad and your mother will let you come to my house to see me." He said.**

Emmett and Jasper snickered.

"**And I'll get a wonderful whipping, so get down here if you don't want both of us to go to the hospital! As if they don't have enough patients," I said.**

"**You really need to calm down, Bella." **

**And he jumped! Right into the tree. And he climbed and climbed, into the window. I was having a panic attack the whole time. And he jumped and climbed back into my room. **

**Anyway, the new family is coming from Washington.**

"Isn't that funny…" Edward murmured.

**The neighbors are in full gossip mode. I heard them talk to a maid in our house, Pell, today. They said that the family is coming from a rainy place-**

"Another coincidence." Carlisle said.

**And they want a nice, calm climate to live in. Not too hot, not too cold. The family name is Black.**

"Wolves?" Edward hissed.

"It could be some other Black family." Esme said, a little worried.

"But the dogs never leave their little place." Edward said.

"They don't know that their legends are true, yet. They changed into wolves when _we_ came. Maybe that's why they decided to leave La Push." Carlisle said.

"But they're the Blacks. The Blacks are the most firm believers of their legends." Jasper said.

"But since there's a vampire in Chicago…do you think that a male member of the Black family will morph? You know, when they sense a vampire near." Rosalie asked.

"I really hope that doesn't happen…" Esme said.

"And they're staying right next to Bella!" Edward said, suddenly angry.

"Jeez, Eddie, overprotective much?" Emmett asked.

"Something could happen…"Alice said.

**I thought it would be good, having new neighbors, but the idea changed when mother called me. She and I hadn't spoken since I got Mary's letter. I try not to think of her much. It hurts when I do. After I read the letter, I cried for some time. Then I stopped. Edward came after a while, and I cried while he **_**tried**_** to comfort me.**

"That's sweet of you." Esme said, smiling at Edward.

Edward smiled back hesitatingly.

**Now she called me, and guess what she said?**

"**Now look, Isabella. There is a boy, one year older than you, and a girl two years older than you. I don't want you to be friends with them. You only need to be friends with Jessamine, Angelica and Edward."**

**I said nothing and went back to my room. I was lucky enough that she approved of Edward. She and Edward's mother are best friends, and I can see them talking to each other all the time, and that's why I and Edward get to see each other so much.**

"Do I hear wedding bells?" Emmett asked.

Rosalie punched his ear.

"Now you do. Shut up." She said.

**I can't wait to meet them, though. I don't care what mother has to say. The girl's name is Rachel, and the boy is Ephraim.**

"Ephraim Black!" Edward hissed.

"Uh, this is like a soap opera." Jasper said, grinning.

"Oh my god! What if Ephraim and Bella hook up?" Alice asked.

"I bet Eddie will be super jealous! This is just awesome!" Emmett said.

**Bye, diary. I'll meet the Black's tomorrow, whatever mother says.**

"Quite a rebel, isn't she?" Alice asked.

"More like _stubborn_." Rosalie said.

"I'll read. Can't wait to see what happens between Ephraim and Bella." Jasper said, taking the book from Alice.

Edward was silent all the time.

"He's a wolf." Was all he said.

"I'm sure Bella will be safe, son." Carlisle assured.

"With a _wolf _as her neighbor?" Edward asked.

"He's too young to be one." Rosalie said.

It was obvious that she hated the arrival of a werewolf, too.


	8. Meeting, Jealousy and Little Hearts

**May 8****th**

**Dear diary, why is my little life so hard?**

"So young, so desp." Alice sighed.

"I bet it's her freaky mom again." Rosalie hissed.

**The day Ephraim came-**

"Great, now they're on first name basis." Edward groaned.

Emmett coughed, while Edward squeezed his eyes shut.

**I thought my days without Edward would take a better turn. Ephraim is really great company. Though I hate to admit it, he's better at knowing my moods than Mary.**

Alice huffed, and Edward looked worried.

**He has the room right next to mine.**

"Ooh, Bella will be getting frequent visit from Ephraim…" Jasper said, looking pointedly at Edward.

"Drama, drama!" Emmett laughed. "I love drama. This is better than those sappy soap operas."

"Yeah, and _our own_ Edward is starring as the hero!" Alice said, laughing with Jasper and Emmett.

"Our very jealous hero." Esme added, smiling at Edward.

Edward looked like he would turn red, if that was possible.

"I'm not jealous." He mumbled.

**And we peep out from our windows and talk for hours. He's funny. He makes me laugh. So does Edward, but not as much.**

"Oh God, Eddie, he's gonna steal Bella from you!" Emmett screamed, in mock horror.

**He's not snobby like his sister, thank goodness. He's not such a bookworm like me. He's much interested in the outer world. I am too. He thinks my mother is a witch, and so does Edward. Edward is coming today, so I better go. Bye.**

"What's gonna happen now? Ephraim and Edward meet…" Jasper mused.

"They fight for lovely Bella, of course!" Alice said, laughing.

"I don't need to fight." Edward said, glaring at them.

"That is called confidence, folks." Emmett said, pointing proudly at Edward.

**May 9****th**

**It didn't go as well as I thought it would, diary. In the end, I and Edward ended up fighting.**

"Oh-oh. It was supposed to be Ephraim and Edward, not you and Edward." Rosalie said, smiling.

"You better not have hurt her, Edward." Esme said with a warning glance at Edward.

"Why would I hurt Bella?" Edward asked, his butterscotch eyes wide.

**He and Ephraim didn't get along as fine as I thought they would. **

"You are jealous of Bella's new friend." Carlisle said, shaking his head.

"He gets lots of time with her. I have to go to school." Edward muttered.

"Poor, poor Eddie." Emmett whispered, his lower lip jutting out.

**So here we were, talking about nothing in particular. And then Ephraim pops his head in.**

"**Bella!" He called.**

"**Who's that?" Edward asked, his eyes narrowing.**

"**Ephraim Black. He's my friend. My very good friend." I said, smiling. I waved at Ephraim.**

**Edward drew closer to the window and looked out. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Ephraim. Ephraim's mouth parted a bit.**

"Fight! Come on, fight for your love! Fight for her heart!" Emmett clutched his heart and closed his eyes.

The Cullen's laughed, while Edward rolled his eyes.

"**Ephraim, huh?" Edward asked.**

"That's not what you should say! You're supposed to say '_That's my Bella, not yours!_'." Emmett screamed.

"Emmett, we're kids, not a pair of hormonal teenagers." Edward sighed.

"The innocent little story of Eddie and Bellie will turn into a romance and drama packed story soon. I'm sure." Jasper said.

"Yeah, it will, by the looks of it." Alice agreed, nodding.

"Will you please continue reading?" Carlisle asked, politely.

**Ephraim's eyes narrowed. Edward turned to me.**

"**Why didn't you tell me about him?" He looked hurt and angry.**

"**It never came up. Besides, I barely ever see you." I said, trying to hide the guilt.**

"**Hmm, okay. Aren't you going to introduce me?" Edward asked, rubbing his chin.**

**He never did that.**

"**Ephraim, this is Edward. Edward, Ephraim." I gestured to both of them.**

**Edward let out a forced smile and Ephraim nodded curtly. Really, what is it with these boys?**

"Jealousy." Jasper said.

**Luckily, Elizabeth finished her chat with Renée then.**

"So now she's calling her mother by her name." Rosalie said, smirking.

"That is bad manners, no matter how hard Renée treated her." Esme said, frowning at the diary.

"If I were Bella, I'd call her a pig, not Renée." Rosalie hissed.

"Do you like Bella, Rosalie?" Edward asked all of a sudden.

"I admire her stubbornness. She's pretty strong and sensible for a ten-year old." Rosalie replied.

"You still didn't answer his question." Alice said.

Rosalie shrugged. "Maybe I'll know by the end of this entry."

**Edward went, giving me a hug, too. He does that very rarely. Wonder what happened?**

"To make sure that Ephraim knows Bella is his." Alice sighed, looking at Edward.

**When I turned back, Ephraim's face was bright red.**

Edward bit his lip to hide his smile.

"**You never told me about **_**him**_**." Ephraim said, a little hurt.**

"**I kind of forgot. I was too busy thinking of other things, I suppose." I said.**

"**Like what?" Ephraim asked, smiling.**

"**Like all the stupid jokes you make up." I said.**

"**You laugh at them."Ephraim said, squinting up his nose.**

"**They're funny. You're funny." **

Edward's eyes widened. Emmett and Jasper snorted, while Alice and Esme giggled.

"**What about **_**him**_**?" Ephraim asked, suddenly serious.**

"_**He**_** has a name actually." I said, narrowing my eyes.**

"**Okay, what about **_**Edward**_**?" He said **_**Edward**_** in a strange way.**

"**He's pretty serious, but I like serious. Well, I like fun, too." I said, shrugging.**

**Ephraim shook his head and left. **

_**Boys.**_

"That's it." Jasper said.

"It's so hard to believe that there was such a girl…Edward's friend, even." Esme sighed.

"She's dead." Rosalie said, not caring what that comment would bring about.

Edward flinched and Alice squeezed her eyes shut, while Esme bit her lip.

"Perhaps not." Edward said.

"I don't think so. Most of the people near your place where dead." Carlisle said, looking sad.

"It would have been fun having Bella around. She seems like a funny character." Jasper said. "Oh, look, more pictures." He said, absentmindedly turning over the pages.

Esme smiled as she looked at Edward's picture, peeping from Jasper's shoulder. She ran her hand through Edward's hair in the picture, which had the exact same shade as he had now. His eyes were sharp and apple green, with a mischievous glint in them.

His lips were less full than they were now, turned into a lopsided grin.

"You had such beautiful eyes." Esme said, looking adoringly at the picture.

"He looks ugly." Emmett said. "Just kidding." He added quickly.

Alice turned the page and burst out laughing.

"Oh, God, Edward! You are in huge trouble!" She choked out. Jasper and Emmett were laughing their heads off, and so was Rosalie. Carlisle and Esme were smiling, shaking their heads.

Edward was near Jasper in a second. His mouth dropped open and his eyes grew wide.

**Ephraim Black (September 13, 1913)**

It was a picture of a boy with shiny black hair which was very wavy, and dark brown eyes. He was very handsome, as good-looking as the Cullen's. That was not what caught Edward's attention.

In the sidelines, Bella had drawn little red and pink hearts, that somehow wasn't there in Edward's picture.


	9. List, Rainbow Faces and New Diary

Emmett was reading this time.

**September 16, 1913**

**Why do all my friends have to be older than me? It's no fair. I have a new maid, Angela. She's really nice. Renée's sick- I don't care what happened to her-**

"That's rude. Renée is her mother." Esme said, frowning.

"Her horribly piggy mother." Rosalie muttered.

Jasper shot her a confused look. "Why do you hate her so much?"

"Because she's a chauvinistic pig." Rosalie said, shrugging. "Read, Emmett."

**And Angela was called to take care of her. Renée didn't like her, so I got her. Since Renée likes only snobby rich brats, I knew that Angela was nice. And I'm right. She likes Ephraim, too.**

"What about _Edward_?" Alice asked, narrowing her eyes.

Edward pursed his lips.

**Ephraim, Ephraim, Ephraim...Where to begin?**

"Why not at the beginning?" Emmett asked with a nasty glint in his eyes.

Edward's fists were balled up tightly by now.

**Angela had said that it's common to have a little crush on someone at my age. But really diary, is it just a crush?**

Edward couldn't make out the little growling noises coming silently from within his chest.

"Someone's getting all hot and bothered." Jasper muttered, smirking.

"I wonder who that is." Rosalie thought aloud.

**Why do I like Ephraim so much?**

**He's **_**so**_** handsome, so **_**unbelievably**_** handsome.**

**His eyes- dark brown, reminds me of chocolate- make me faint.**

"What about the eyes that reminds you of green apples?" Edward mumbled without thinking.

Esme had the quietest laughter of them all.

"Chocolates are sweeter, Eddie. _Suck_ it up and deal with it." Emmett said while slapping his thighs, laughing like a maniac.

**I'm not even mentioning his lips. I wonder what I'd do if there was no window between us. I'd probably act like a starved cheetah.**

Jasper and Emmett snickered.

"They'll have their first kiss soon, I bet." Emmett said.

"No way! Edward will show him who's the boss." Jasper said, shaking his head.

"Wanna bet?" Emmett asked cheerfully.

"Sure." Jasper said, grinning.

"We'll have a rematch if I win." Emmett said.

Jasper frowned. So he still hadn't forgotten. "Whatever."

And they shook hands, right under the burning glare of Edward.

**He has an amazing voice. Like, honey and silk mixed together. My eyes pop out of my sockets every time I hear him speak.**

**And the way he looks at me.**

"He better not be looking at her _that_ way." Edward muttered angrily.

"I bet _you_ already look at her that way." Rosalie said, smirking.

**My knees start shaking like mad. It can be very uncomfortable.**

**He is so funny. He can make me laugh so much.**

**He can very easily cheer me up after a bad day. And that can be very good, since you already know Renée's behaviour. **

**He always compliments me, even on little things. It makes me happy.**

**He's my best friend.**

Edward's face fell really hard at that.

Emmett wasn't stupid enough to make any comments.

"How can she forget you so easily?" Jasper asked incredulously.

Edward's face grew even more tired at that. Carlisle frowned at the book and Esme went up to pat Edward's shoulder.

"I'm sure she didn't forget you. You've been friends longer." Esme said.

Edward shrugged.

**He's hair is really soft. It's so dark and perfect.**

Edward bit his lip, and so did Emmett, but both for different reasons.

**Uh, if Ephraim finds this out, I am so dead. I'll rot with the embarrassment and then I'll die. Maybe he'll be kind enough to bury me. I could almost imagine Renée's witchlike cackle in the background.**

**But diary, don't you think something is missing here?**

"You." Carlisle said, looking at Edward.

**Edward's my bestest best friend-**

Edward grinned widely at that. "Hah!"

"Bestest best _friend_, not _crush_." Emmett reminded.

Edward shrugged, too relieved to notice. "That's enough for me."

Only Jasper knew the truth, and the truth was that Edward was lying. Jasper smiled a little. Edward didn't know that he was lying, too.

**So I had to ask him what he thought. His face turned green like his eyes when I told him. Boys can be so strange sometimes! I've only seen a pale-faced Edward.**

**Lately he's been turning purple, green and red, and many other rainbow-shades, especially when I talk about Ephraim (?). **

"That would have been fun to watch." Alice commented.

**He told me it was my choice. I asked him if he had a cold. He sounded bad, not his usual, polite, **_**I'm a well-refined goody pants**_** voice.**

All except Edward laughed.

"That's how you speak even now." Esme said.

"_Goody pants!_" Edward huffed.

**Angela says that boys' voice change when they grow older. Well, I don't like Edward's new voice. It makes me feel odd. I've grown too used to his goody pants voice.**

**Sometimes, I think Edward-**

"That's it." Emmett said, looking confused.

"Huh?" Edward asked.

Carlisle took the book.

"It looks like someone took the book from her. And she must have had quite a fight too." Carlisle said, gesturing to the tear marks on the page.

"Must be her psychopath mom." Rosalie muttered.

"What if she found out about Ephraim?" Esme asked, looking worried.

"More drama!" Emmett said, cheerfully.

"No. Think about all the trouble she would get with her mother." Edward said softly, looking down.

"Poor girl." Alice sighed.

"Read the next entry, Em." Jasper said.

"The diary's finished. It's all blank pages from here." Emmett said.

"No pictures?" Esme asked.

"Nah." Emmett said.

"Let's read the next diary, then." Edward said, a little impatient.

"I'll read." Carlisle volunteered.

He took the diary in his hands.

"Hey, Carly the bad vampy, make it quick or Eddie will pee his pants." Emmett commanded sternly.

Edward rolled his eyes.

* * *

**Bella is fifteen in the next chapter. The diary entries end after Chapter 12. After that, it's a new Bella, but there's a very, very weird twist...Thank you for the wonderful reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying this story!**


	10. Funeral, First Kiss and Engagement

"The second diary is beautiful." Esme commented.

"And Edward seems to like it very much." Alice added, smiling innocently at Edward.

Edward's eyes settled on the first dairy, which he was absentmindedly stroking, for the second time.

Emmett opened his mouth.

"Don't even start, Emmett." Edward said quietly.

"I was just going to say that it's so sweet to see you cuddle a diary." Emmett whimpered.

"Do you remember anything at all, Edward? A mental image, perhaps?" Carlisle asked

"No, nothing." Edward said.

"Stop sulking and read." Rosalie said, rolling her eyes.

**July 23, 1917**

"Wow, that's a long time." Alice said.

**Long time, no see. It really feels so different right now. But wouldn't a person feel that way when she's been leading a monotonous life for four years?**

"She sounds all grown up." Esme noted.

"She's fifteen now." Rosalie said.

"And Edward's in the age where he gets all-" Emmett started.

"Thank you for your kind observation, Emmett." Edward interrupted curtly.

"You're sixteen." Esme said. "I wonder if there's a picture."

**I have no idea how I should feel right now? Happy, sad, relieved, independent, regretful? I can't bring myself to be sad, diary. But I feel angry at myself for feeling happy. **

"What's she talking about?" Emmett asked.

"I think I have an idea what it might be." Rosalie was smiling when she said this.

"Hmm, I guess it could be." Edward said, reading Rosalie's mind.

"Stupid mind reader." Emmett grumbled.

**Renee's death-**

Rosalie was smiling hugely by now.

"Wow. She's dead." Jasper said.

"I wonder if Edward killed her." Rosalie said.

"Rosalie!" Esme scolded.

"Why would he do that?" Alice asked.

"If the pigheaded Renee hurts Bella so much-" Rosalie started.

"Thank you Rosalie, but I think I would remember if I murdered someone while I was human." Edward sighed.

**-Didn't shake me up a bit. Actually, it did the opposite. It made me **_**free**_** again. So much ahs happened, diary, and I don't know how to say all this.**

**Maybe I should start with what happened that September, 1913? It was Renee who found the diary, and unfortunately, she read every single thing I've written, including Ephraim. The window's been nailed shut ever since.**

**She didn't even allow Angela to come into my room. And I barely ever went outside. Once in a month, perhaps, I would get to see Edward.**

"Aw." Alice whispered.

**And where did that leave Ephraim? He thought I was ignoring him, angry that he did something to make me mad. As if.**

**And payback is the best medicine, according to him.**

Edward glared at the diary, and so did Alice and Esme.

**I couldn't even read books, diary. Edward was and is my only comfort. I stopped sobbing myself to sleep a long time back. Things changed now. With Renee gone, Ephraim in love with Vanessa-**

"Huh?" Emmett asked.

"I win! No rematch." Jasper said cheerfully.

"Lucky, Edward." Carlisle said.

**And Edward back into my life, I think it's all going to be better. I've loved Renee, but things changed. In those rare times that I needed a mother, Angela was there for me. **

"She's lucky to have Angela." Esme said, smiling.

**It's time for the funeral, diary. Maybe I can at least try to hide my smile?**

"Umm, that is a little mean." Emmett said.

"I don't think so." Rosalie said curtly.

"No, really, what kind of a daughter would smile at her mother's funeral?" Jasper asked.

"An abused one." Edward said.

Emmett and Jasper exchanged glances.

**July 25, 1917**

**It takes two whole days to make me think clearly. Now that it's safe to write about boys in my diary, that's what I'll do. Besides, I have to urgently get this out of my mind. It's too embarrassing dairy. I feel confused, horrified and...**_**Happy**_**?**

**I am a strange person. Okay, I'll get to the point. I just need to stop my hand from shaking like this. Uh, the ink's running all over.**

Sure enough, there were tiny patches of ink in the page, a result of writing with a shaky hand.

"Wonder what happened..." Jasper muttered.

**Straight to the point, straight to the point...Okay, here it goes.**

**Edward kissed me.**

Emmett was the first speak, after a long minute of silence.

"Um, well, that was...uh...expected." He said.

Jasper nodded.

"Isn't this supposed to be funny?" Rosalie asked confusedly.

"Umm..."Carlisle mumbled, obviously embarrassed as was the rest of his family.

"This is getting awkward." Esme whimpered.

"Uh...Edward?" Alice asked, poking her brother's shoulder.

Edward was frozen, his eyes wide and his lips glued together.

"Hello? Earth to Edward!" Alice screeched.

"Wah...? Oh..." Edward mumbled.

Everyone was silent for another long minute.

"Damn." Edward muttered at last.

"Aren't you supposed to be happy?" Jasper asked him.

"I am. Kind of." Edward said.

_You're sad because she isn't alive, huh? _Alice asked.

"Yeah." Edward said.

"Can you continue reading, Carlisle?" Alice asked gently.

Carlisle nodded.

**And it wasn't the sweet, lovebird, romantic moment type of kiss. He just pushed me into a wall and kissed me.**

"Edward!" Esme cried angrily.

"Why would you do that, son?" Carlisle asked, looking confused.

Edward looked horrified. Alice and Rosalie were scowling at him.

"He likes it all hot and rough. Like me and Rosie. And you hid it from me all these years." Emmett whispered and pouted.

"I-I wouldn't do that. No." Edward said, shaking his head.

"Well, it says you did." Rosalie said, glaring at him.

Edward looked totally glum.

**Okay, I'm going to start at the beginning. After Renee's funeral, almost everyone left. Father has been annoyed lately with Renee, but he was sad. Most of the people in our house wasn't, though.**

**Elizabeth was the most distraught person.**

**She hugged me for a long time-**

"Well, at least there won't be any problems with the bride and the in-laws." Alice said cheerfully.

Edward growled at her, causing Jasper to tighten his hold on Alice and glare at him.

**And I mean, a very long time. She was crying so hard. She didn't even notice Edward who was right behind her, staring at me with a very curious look.**

"It's called _lust_." Jasper snickered.

"**You'll always be like a daughter to me, Bella. I'm there for you, always. Please, don't hesitate to call me if you need anything." She whispered.**

"_Always a daughter_...in more ways that one..." Emmett added.

"I don't think I'm going to marry her." Edward said, rather sadly.

"That was the twentieth century, Eddie." Emmett said.

"You have to admit, there is always a possibility..." Carlisle mumbled.

"Did I have a wedding ring on my finger that you forgot to mention?" Edward asked, raising his eyebrows.

"No." Carlisle said, sounding defeated.

"**Thank you, Auntie. I see you as a mother, too." I said, smiling. It was the truth.**

Edward was smiling, and so were the girls.

"She's such a wonderful girl." Esme said adoringly.

**And then Elizabeth went off, and it was just me and Edward.**

"Ah...the drama begins." Emmett said, leaning back as if to watch an interesting movie.

"This ahs got to be fun." Alice said, looking excited.

"**Let's go for a walk, Bella." **

**It's been so long since we had time alone. Spending time with Edward under Renee's scrutinizing eye isn't all that pleasant.**

**So I, the unsuspecting girl, took his hand and we started walking to the small cluster of trees.**

"You better not have hurt her, Edward." Esme warned.

"I would never!" Edward said defensively.

**And then he looked directly into my eyes. They were like sharp, poisoned arrows and he was shooting them right into my iris.**

Esme sighed.

"**Bella." He said, very gently.**

**I couldn't say anything.**

"**Bella." He tried again.**

Emmett and Jasper were grinning like crazy, and Alice and Rosalie were looking impatient, and Esme was looking worried.

"**I really like you, Bella."**

**I still couldn't open my mouth.**

"**No, take that back," He said. "I love you."**

Alice _aww_ed and Esme smiled a little.

Emmett and Jasper were chanting, "Knew it, knew it, Eddie's in _love_ with a _human_ babe."

"**Oh." I said.**

**And then he kissed me.**

**It wasn't an affectionate, careful, loving peck. He pinned on me down on to an oak tree and attacked my mouth. It scared me at first, but then once I relaxed it felt good.**

"What?" Rosalie screeched.

"Umm, Eddie has kissing skills." Emmett said, nodding approvingly at Edward.

"It would have been better if you asked Bella first." Esme sighed.

"Sorry." Edward apologized, but a small smile was playing around in the corner of his lips.

**I have to sort out my emotions, diary. All I can say is- Ephraim was a bad idea, and I'm glad that Edward is brave and so wonderfully sweet to stay by me. Even if he pushed me down on a tree and force kissed me.**

Everybody except Rosalie chuckled at the last part.

"I'll read next." Edward said, taking the diary from Carlisle and looking down at it with an affectionate, brooding look in his eyes.

Emmett, Jasper and Alice rolled their eyes.

**March 6****th****, 1918**

Edward froze after he read that.

"Now we get to know what happened." Rosalie said.

Edward looked like he regretted taking the turn to read.

**Eight months, dairy. I am so preoccupied with my new, better, happy and wonderful life, I have barely any time to write on you. I think I'll be writing more often now. You must have noticed the change in my handwriting. Very shaky, don't you think?**

**I don't mind.**

**I don't care about anything anymore.**

**I am so happy.**

**I could start dancing all over again.**

**I am going to die from happiness.**

"Hey...I wonder if Eddie and Bella got all-" Emmett started.

"Emmett. We're both _sixteen_. Just _sixteen_," Edward hissed.

"_Twentieth_ century, bro," Jasper reminded him.

**How can such a small item make me so happy? Of course, it may be small in size, but its value must be god knows what. I don't want to know. I want you to know everything, dairy. I'll tell you about this small, wonderful object which ahs made me so happy.**

**My engagement ring.**

Edward's voice was barely above a whisper.

"No." He whispered. "No, no, no, no!"

"What's wrong, Edward?" Esme asked.

"This is what you wanted, isn't it?" Rosalie asked.

"I'm a monster. I'm horrible." Edward moaned. He sounded like he was ready to cry.

"Don't say that!" Esme scolded, resting her hand on Edward's.

"I f-forgot my fiancée. I forgot Bella. What kind of a person forgets his fiancée?" Edward asked.

"It's not your fault, Edward." Carlisle said gently.

"But she loves me so much." Edward said.

"Oh, come on, dork. I forgot _everything_." Alice said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, and shortie doesn't give a damn about it." Emmett added.

"She wasn't going to marry anyone." Edward said.

Jasper looked uncomfortable at this comment.

"There's no way of knowing that. At least you know that you were going to marry someone." Alice said.

"I don't want to read anymore." Edward said, sounding gloomy still.

"Of course. Shall I read, then?" Alice asked, knowing that Edward wouldn't be able to handle reading Bella's loving descriptions of him.

**Elizabeth Masen's ring- and it's sparkling in my finger. The face is a long oval, set with slanting rows of glittering round stones. The band is gold - delicate and narrow. The gold made a fragile web around the diamonds. I'd never seen anything so wondeful like it.**

"I have the ring." Edward said.

"How did you get it?" Esme asked.

"It was...in the attic. In a satin box." Edward said.

"The same attic we found these diaries from?" Alice asked.

Edward nodded.

"I wonder how they got there." Carlisle said.

**And it fitted me perfectly. Elizabeth hugged me for a long time, and demanded that I call her Mother from now.**

Esme and Edward smiled at that.

**Edward Sr smiled for a long time, almost the whole day, which is a very rare thing. My father was beyond ecstatic. Could you ask for anything more perfect, diary? And Edward...I swear, his lips reached the edge of his eyes.**

**And he still looks at me like I'm the world's greatest treasure.**

All the girls' _aww_ed, even Rosalie.

**I'm very sure that I look at him the same way.**

Edward looked guiltier and felt more horrible at that.

**Maybe it's because that he is the greatest treasure to me. Ever since he kissed me that day, we had been together. And I finally understood what I felt for him. One single kiss and it changed every bit of me.**

**I love him. I love him with all my heart and soul.**

**But everything is not that pleasant, diary. An year and a few months from now, Edward will have to go for the war. I feel like crying every time I think about it. But it is time for me to be happy now. I'll make the best of the time.**

**Our parents agree that the wedding be as soon as possible, and Edward is more than willing. The closest date we can get to is September 13, my birthday. We would both be seventeen then, a perfect age to be married. Besides, however much Edward protests, I want a long engagement.**

"Uh, pervert. You are so excited to take her, aren't you?" Rosalie asked disgustedly.

"Rosalie!" Esme scolded.

Edward looked too sad to say anything.

**That's not all, diary. I got a letter from Mary.**

Alice smiled a little, though Jasper looked worried.

"Don't worry, Jazz, I don't think it's a wedding invitation." Emmett said with a nasty glint in his eyes.

Jasper looked even more uncomfortable.

**Except it was not written by Mary.**

The Cullen's looked worried at this.

**Dear Bella Swan, I am writing to you on behalf of Alice.**

"They're calling you Alice now." Esme said.

"Let's hope that we can find out more about Alice." Jasper said, squeezing Alice's hand.

**You must know her better by her name Mary, but she likes the name Alice much better now. Let me introduce myself to you. My name is William, and I am a good friend of Alice's.**

Jasper was biting his lip at this, and Emmett snickered.

**Alice told me about the letter she wrote to you, six years back. She claims that you remember it. In that case, Bella, you must be informed about her condition.**

"_Her condition_." Jasper hissed.

**Like you, I see young Alice as a very brilliant, cheerful and wonderful girl who does not deserve a bit of how she had been treated. I am not going into any detailed description of how her life has been in this wretched asylum, Bella, but it hasn't been one of the best.**

**Alice is going to be out of this asylum very soon and she wants to say her final goodbyes to you. I know this may seem strange, Bella, but she is completely normal and all, but you will not see her again. She is going to be on her won from here.**

**Please, please don't try to visit her. I am not saying this to hurt your feeling Bella; this is just for your own safety. Alice wants you to be safe. **

**Alice sends you all her love.**

"He's a vampire." Edward said.

"What?" Alice asked.

"Isn't it obvious? He's going to change her. Alice is going to be changed by him." Edward said.

"Why?" Alice asked.

"I have no idea."

"This is very strange." Carlisle said.

**I know diary, this is strange. Mary- or Alice- has been a wonderful friend. I am happy that she's finally out of a place she never deserved to be in. **

**And now, time for me to go back into my description of my lovely evening. (Forgive me for being such a horrible friend, Alice.)**

"I forgive you." Alice said, smiling.

It seemed strange to answer to an apology sent hundred years ago.

**I and Edward, like usual, were sitting in the little bench by the pond in his house. We usually stay there for long hours, talking and...Well, you know...**

**And then, like usual, he goes on about my wonderful qualities and then like usual, kisses me (I swear, that boy is completely ruled by his hormones.)**

"Well-reserved goody pants to a hormonal teenager, Eddie?" Emmett asked.

**And then he's sending those strange and exciting things into my iris like he did months ago.**

"**I promise I'll love you every single day, Bella, **_**every single**__**day**_**." He said.**

"**Will you marry me?"**

**And I stared at him like an idiot, wondering what to do. My mind was screaming the obvious answer, and I finally came to the earth and said yes.**

**You should have seen his face brighten up. It was almost funny.**

**And then we kissed some more (Sweet life.) and then we went inside, our parents drank champagne like mad and then we escaped tot he garden once more. We danced for so many hours. When it was midnight, Angela came to take me back home.**

**And now I'm here, writing on you, humming the lullaby he wrote for me and thinking how horrible I am for not thinking much about Alice.**

"It's not as horrible as forgetting you." Edward whispered.

"I'll read next...if that's okay." Rosalie said.

Alice shrugged and handed her the diary.

"Just three more entries." Rosalie said.

Edward still hadn't moved from his frozen position.


	11. Suspicion, Last Kiss and Anger

**August 17, 1918**

"She's still alive." Esme gasped in relief.

Edward eye's widened a bit, and then returned to their emotionless expression.

**Wondering if I'm alive, diary? The answer is not yes, or no.**

"Is she a vampire?" Emmett asked, smiling.

The Cullen's jumped a little at the idea.

"I was kidding, 'kay? Chill." Emmett groaned. "You people have no sense of humour."

There was a loud smack and Emmett yelped in pain. "Sorry, babe."

**When I was younger, about ten years or eleven perhaps, I used to write so much. I guess it's a part of growing up. You write less and read more. At least that's what it's like for me. So many dreams I had, diary. All of the came crashing down on me like those books fell of the shelf on me when I was thirteen.**

**I expected so much, just to have to see it crash into bits. It's not fair.**

**I was supposed to be married right now. **

Edward's unmoving body flinched.

_You really love her, don't you? _Esme asked.

"It's hard to feel that way for someone in a book, whether the person existed or not. I really don't understand myself." Edward replied.

"So you don't?" Esme asked, surprised.

"No! I do feel..." Edward couldn't complete.

"Sadness. Loss. Regret. Anger. Confusion." Jasper listed all of Edward's emotions.

"I can understand that." Esme said, looking sympathetically at Edward.

"It's not your fault." Alice reminded him.

"Mind freaks." Emmett muttered.

**But no, that wasn't completely destroyed. At least we were together. We're in the same room, lying side-by-side in these hospital beds.**

"The influenza." Jasper sighed.

"So that's how she died." Rosalie said.

Edward flinched again.

"Rosalie..."Esme said.

"Sorry." She apologized.

**Edward looks much worse than me and I'm so scared, I'm shaking. Edward just turned over and smiled at me. However weak he is, he still looks so beautiful when he smiles.**

**I smiled back.**

"**Don't be scared." He whispered.**

**He knows me too well.**

Esme and Alice smiled at that.

**I didn't say anything.**

"**Nothing will happen to you, love. You're going to be all right." He whispered again. He sounded so sure, I almost believed him.**

"**I'm not worried about myself. I don't want to l-lose you." I stuttered.**

**I couldn't even imagine what would happen if I'd lose him. No, that would be simply unbearable.**

Edward hung his head in shame.

"Not. Your. Fault." Alice hissed.

"Yeah, Eddie, you've gotta stop blaming yourself." Emmett said.

"Easy for you to say. She's not your fiancée." Edward hissed.

"Hey, maybe I did have a fiancée. But anyway, I don't care what happened when I was human." Emmett shrugged.

Rosalie raised an eyebrow at him.

"**I'll always be there for you, Bella. You won't lose me." Then he chuckled.**

"**What?" I said.**

**His expression turned sad as well. "I'm scared of losing you." He admitted in a whisper.**

"**You won't." I promised.**

**Then he reached his hand over to stroke my cheek. But Elizabeth...**

**She's worse than the both of us combined, and yet she's claiming that she's healthy as a horse. I swear she's driving Dr. Cullen mad.**

"You again." Esme whispered.

"I wonder why I never noticed you with Bella." Carlisle said.

"And my engagement ring." Edward reminded.

"I'm sorry." Carlisle apologized.

Edward just shrugged.

**She insists on taking care of Edward when she's ten times worse than him. I hate this, diary. My fiancé and his mother, lying next to me on a hospital bed, looking so pale and broken. I don't want this. It's horribly painful. **

"Oh, Bella." Alice whispered.

"That must have been so hard." Esme said.

**Why am I so unlucky? Why can't I be happy? Maybe Edward and I shouldn't have had an engagement at all. We should have eloped to a safer place, like Ephraim and Vanessa.**

"What?" Emmett and Jasper gasped.

"That would have been _so_ romantic." Rosalie said, smirking at Edward.

**At least we're all lucky enough to be alive till December. Our fathers never had the luck to last this long. Diary, all I can do now is pray. I don't want to lose my Edward. **

Edward smiled a little at 'my Edward'.

**I want us to marry, have pretty babies and see our grandchildren. Then I'll happily go from this world.**

Rosalie's mood dropped down. She understood exactly how Bella felt.

**Pray, pray, pray, diary. I won't lose my Edward. I can't. Advanced Merry Christmas. Either I'll be dead by then-**

Edward not only flinched, his face turned into an agonized mask.

Esme stroked his hair comfortingly while Jasper tried desperately to control his emotions.

**-or I'll be too sad to write. **

Rosalie paused.

"Should I continue?" She asked, looking hesitatingly at Edward's face.

"Yeah." He whispered.

Emmett and Jasper were too fond of their necks and limbs, so they didn't open their mouths.

**September 3, 1918**

"That's the day." Carlisle said, looking sad.

"Huh?" Emmett asked.

"That's the day I changed Edward." Carlisle explained.

**The last time I write on you, diary, so I'll try to make this as cheerful as possible. Bad news first. Elizabeth died three days back. Edward was sleeping then, but when he woke up, like usual, he looked at me first and then turned to Elizabeth's bed.**

**He cringed when he saw the empty bed and then he squeezed his eyes shut. I don't want to say what happened after that. At least Edward had the strength to console me or else I'd have created one huge scene with all my useless crying.**

**Dr. Cullen is looking so scared right now. I've noticed it. He's been this way for a few days, especially when he's near Edward.**

"I was thinking of changing you." Carlisle explained.

"She's very observant." Jasper noted.

**He also looks regretful, and apologetic. Hesitating as well. I don't want to think about what that means. If Edward goes, then I'll go too.**

"No." Edward moaned.

"Shh." Esme whispered.

**Is there any good news? Oh, yes. Maybe to my father. Or maybe to Elizabeth. And Edward claims that it's the happiest thing he'd hear for months.**

**I'm getting better, diary. In two days, I can go from the hospital.**

"What? So how did she...?" Jasper asked.

"Oh, no! She wouldn't-" Alice gasped. _Kill herself_.

Edward looked at Alice, eyes wide and panicked.

"No." He whispered. "No, no, no..."

"Read." Esme instructed gently.

**That doesn't mean Edward has to.**

"That's all." Rosalie said.

"Oh, wait, there's more." She said. "Must have been written later."

**Dairy, Dr. Cullen wheeled Edward's bed out of the room. I'm not sad. I'm not heartbroken. I'm just angry. **

**Diary, I swear I saw him breathing.**

**Why did they have to take him away so early? Just because he's close doesn't mean they have to take him away before he dies. It's not fair. I want to be with till his last breath. I want to see him. I want to kiss him again, tell him that I love him, that I'll join him soon.**

"Why is she saying that?" Edward groaned.

**I told him that I loved him, two hours back. I kissed him, five hours back. That's not enough. I don't even have the strength to cry right now. **

"There's another entry." Rosalie said after reading.

"Who wants to read?" She asked.

Nobody said anything.

"Oh, come on, people, you can't be like this forever." Emmett groaned.

Another long minute passed.

"I'll read." Edward said.

Everyone looked at him, surprised.

He shrugged and took the diary from Rosalie.

"And I'm not going to stop in the middle." He added.


	12. Rings, Searches and Irony

**September 13, 1918**

**Would it be very, very nasty of me to say that this is going to be my last birthday? **

"Yes." Edward said, scowling.

"Edward." Esme said, narrowing her eyes at him.

**I have to take care of everything now...the maids, the house, the family fortune...everything I don't want. Because all I ever wanted is gone, gone forever.**

"_Forever_ is right." Edward said, biting his lip.

**This is why I decided to leave Chicago. I can't stay here anymore. Everything here, the streets, the houses, the parks...everything reminds me of the family I lost. I'm not going to take you with me, diary. **

**You have all these written in you. All my memories of everything that passed these six years, you have it all in you. And if I take you with me, I'll read you from the beginning, and that'll just remind me of things I don't want to be reminded of.**

"Where is she going?" Emmett asked.

"I hope she says something about it..." Alice said.

**I'm going to search for my friends, the ones I still have. Ephraim and Mary.**

"What?" Everyone said.

"That doesn't make sense." Rosalie said.

"Maybe-" Jasper started, but Edward cut him off, already reading mind.

"No. Don't say it." He said.

"Oh, come on, Edward!" Alice groaned. "Tell us, Jazz."

Jasper sighed, looking apologetically at Edward. Edward glared at him.

"Bella might want to say goodbye to her friends, before..." He stopped there.

"Oh." Emmett said.

"That could be true." Esme said, looking sad.

**Ephraim is in Washington and Mary must be in Biloxi. I'm going to find Mary first. I already decided on what to bring and what not to.**

**Diaries, I'm leaving behind. And my engagement ring, too. That's too much of a reminder. **

"No wonder." Esme sighed.

**The nurse gave me Edward's ring.**

"She must have left it with hers." Carlisle said.

"It still doesn't explain why you didn't see it." Edward said.

**We had to take off all our jewellery when we were admitted to the hospital, and it was given to the nurse. **

"That explains why." Carlisle said.

"But you must have known that Bella is my fiancée through some way." Edward said.

"I would never have hidden anything from you, Edward." Carlisle said.

"I know." Edward sighed.

**The nurse was the only one who had seen me talk to Edward. She talked to me, asked me what was my relationship with him, and then she gave me the ring.**

"Humph." Edward grumbled.

**I'm going to leave the ring and the diaries in the Masens' house. It's going to be safe there. I love you diary.**

**And Edward-**

**I know it is impossible and it is absurd to hope so, but if you happen to be reading this, then hear me. I love you, I love you with my all my heart.**

Edward's voice broke and he just stared at the book.

It seemed ironic.

"That's all." He said, closing the book.

"Damn." Emmett said.

Jasper sighed. "That was fun while it lasted."

"Best fun I've had in decades." Emmett agreed.

"Bella sure would have been fun to have around." Alice said, biting her lip.

"She's such a wonderful girl. I wonder what happened after she went to find you." Esme said.

"You okay, Edward?" Alice asked.

"I'm going outside." Edward said.

"Hunting? Should I come...?" Esme asked.

"No." Edward said.

Maybe some time alone in the meadow could calm things down...

* * *

**Edward's POV from now. Bella comes in next chapter...Thanks for the reviews, I can't believe we reached 500!!!  
**


	13. Meadow, Meeting and Mingling

**Edward's POV:**

The sound of the river in the meadow was usually calming, but today it irritated me. Everything irritated me today. I was like a grizzly bear...and irritable grizzly bear. Whatever. At least I don't have brown fur.

_Brown_...brown hair, brown eyes...who had brown hair and brown eyes? Bella.

Bella with brown hair and brown eyes.

That's a lot of B's and a lot cuts to my ancient hurt. How come I forgot her? My best friend, my lover, my soul mate? Why had it been so easy for me to just slip her out of my mind?

I was a monster, that's why. I didn't deserve her. I didn't deserve her or her love. I was just such a monster, and I hate myself even more for forgetting her.

At that time my phone rang. Annoyed, I picked it up. _Alice._

"What?" I snapped.

"Don't be crabby, Edward, we have enough crabby attitude from Rosalie." Alice sniffed.

"What do you want?" I groaned.

"I had a vision. Family meeting. Get your gloomy ass here in five minutes or I'll bury your limbs in the forest." Alice threatened.

"Whatever."

Stupid pixie.

* * *

We were sitting around the round mahogany table, Esme's favourite. As usual, we were sitting in perfect order.

"Alice had a vision-" Jasper started.

"Can we just get to the point, please?" I snapped, annoyed.

"Edward." Esme sighed.

"Sorry." I mumbled, hanging my head.

"A vampire is coming." Alice said quietly.

I snapped my head up. "And?"

"IIs she any danger to us?" Jasper asked, snaking his arms protectively over Alice.

Alice's lips twitched. "No."

"Alice." I sighed. "Please, out with it."

"She's a vegetarian." Alice said.

"What?" We all chorused.

"A vegetarian." Alice repeated. "I don't know what she's here for. She's alone, and she doesn't want to hurt anyone."

"Is it anyone we know?" Emmett asked.

"No. I can't see her properly; it's all so blurry..." Alice whimpered.

"Not your fault." I said.

I read her mind, and the visions weren't clear at all.

Alice smiled at me. "One more thing."

She gestured to Carlisle.

"I think I know why Edward forgot about Bella." He said.

"Why?" I asked. I didn't like this topic.

"It might be your body's way of protecting you." Carlisle said.

"He's a vampire, Carlisle. He doesn't need protection." Rosalie said.

"It is quite obvious that we will have to go through physical pain if we ever lose our mates." The mated ones, including Carlisle flinched. "If Bella had been alive, or a vampire, she will surely be Edward's mate."

I sighed. "Well, that's another reason why I should go to the Voltu-"

"You're not going anywhere." Esme snapped, glaring at me.

I huffed at the unfairness.

"If Edward had remembered Bella, think about the pain it would cause him. He doesn't remember him and still he's-"

Emmett cut him off. "-acting like a suicidal teen. We know."

"I'm sure my life in the asylum hadn't been that good." Alice whispered. "And I was kept in the dark for so long. That must be why I don't remember, because it would hurt me to remember. Edward's just the same, but there's only one memory which causes him pain-"

"And that's the only one he can't remember. That makes sense." Emmett said.

"But I think he can remember Bella. Everything about her." Jasper said.

"How?" I asked.

"It happens to humans quite often. They forget about some incident, but when they see something- it can be place, an object, or a person- and then all of a sudden they start remembering everything." Jasper replied.

"The only objects of Bella's where the ring and the diaries." Rosalie said.

"No." Alice said, smiling.

"What else?" Rosalie asked.

"Bella's house." Alice replied, grinning.

"We're not going there." I growled.

"Of course we're not, you'd remember everything and then you'll be more depressed than ever." Esme sighed.

"Thank you." I said.

Before I left, I planted a kiss on Esme's cheek and then I took off. I felt the cool air of Forks brush past me as I ran. I breathed the beautiful scent, and then I froze.

I smelled a vampire.

A new scent. Someone I didn't know.

I usually grew cautious when I got the new scent of vampires, but this one didn't affect me. It was sweet, but not unbearably sweet. Freesia and a hint of lilies. Rose mixed with a bit of cinnamon. All over, it was absolutely delicious. I wanted to bathe in the scent, curl up next to it forever.

I felt my throat go dry, and it was not thirst. Hot, boiling venom seemed to flood my brains, wiping out all thoughts. I had to find out to whom the scent belonged to_- I just had to_. My heart was giving a strange, unexpected tug. It was like it was showing me the way somewhere.

I knew I had to find the person with this gorgeous scent. Like a madman, I chased after it, hungry for more. And I finally got the source of the scent. It was coming from my meadow.

There, in the middle of the thick green grass stood a familiar figure with long brown hair staring at the sky, her skin sparkling like diamonds.

Her golden eyes met my own, and her lips parted in surprise. I made an involuntary step towards her. She took a step back and I frowned. Why was she trying to get away from me? Then her eyes narrowed in suspicion. I gasped and staggered as realization hit me.

"Bella." I whispered.

I was so happy. I don't remember what happened to me. I rushed over to my angel and wrapped my arms around her, holding her tightly to me. I'll never let her go.

I held her for some time before I realized that she was squirming in my arms. Hurt and confused, I released her and looked into her eyes. She looked annoyed and a bit scared.

"Bella, love, what's wrong?" I whispered.

Her frown deepened and she took a step back. Then she spoke for the first time in her angel's voice.

"I don't know you."


	14. Back Again

I scoffed and pulled her back into my arms.

"It's not the time for jokes, love, it's time to celebrate." I said and grinned wider.

She groaned and struggled, and my mind filled with confusion again.

"Let me go!" She insisted and I unwillingly let her go.

"Really, you seem to have mistaken me for someone else. And please, don't touch me." She said, glaring at me.

I flinched and then the unbearable amount of pain came back.

"No, love, you can't..._forget_." I whispered the last part. "Bella, can't you remember me at all?"

She looked shocked. "How do you know my name?"

"Because y-you're my fiancée!" I shouted, yanking her into my arms again.

I couldn't bear to leave her again. No, I just got her back and she was meant to be with me. Right?

"I am not!" She shouted back and I let her go again.

Maybe the pain or the confusion, I don't know what, but I dropped to the ground, clutching my head with both hands. I crawled into a tight ball and stayed frozen, on the ground.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Bella asked. "Why don't you pretend that you're a gentleman and answer my question?"

Yep, she _was_ Bella. No one else could make me smile in the worst of situations. No one else would try to crack jokes at a time like this.

"You don't remember." I whispered, staring at her.

Bella sighed.

"Okay, so let me see. When you were human, you had a girl you really loved and her name was Bella. So when you were changed, you lost her. And I look like this girl, and now you think that _that_ Bella is _me_. Okay, maybe I look like your fiancée, but I'm not." She said while I listened in horror.

"Look, I'm really sorry about your fiancée." She looked genuinely sorry. "But I'm not _her_, okay?"

"Do you have a mate, Bella?" I whispered.

One visitor to Italy coming up, if the answer was yes. Oh yes, and a broken dead heart.

"What? No." She said, shaking her head.

I sighed in relief.

"So, aren't you going to apologize for disrespecting me?" She asked impatiently.

I wanted to tell her that it was my right as her fiancé to hold her anytime I wanted to because I loved her so much, but that would be very rude.

"I'm sorry, I was just so happy to have you back." I apologized.

"_Have me back_? I am not a puppy you lost, Mr. Snotty-pants!" She screamed.

Emmett was going to love her.

"Bella, where did you come from?" I asked.

"That's none of your business." She snapped. "But if you must know, I came from Biloxi."

"You were searching for me?" A sad voice asked.

I turned around and growled. No one was allowed in my meadow except me and my mate- who happened to be Bella.

It was Alice, with the rest of my family. I growled again. They knew how possessive I was of my meadow. I didn't want a single one to step foot there. It belonged simply to me and Bella.

Okay, Alice and Jasper would be okay. And Carlisle and Esme. Just not Emmett and Rosalie.

Bella and Alice stared at each other for a long time.

"Mary!" Bella shrieked.

Alice's face lit into a huge grin and the next minute, they were hugging each other, locked in each others arms. I choked back a sob. This was supposed to my moment- _our_ moment. Just Bella and I.

"I-I thought I'd f-find you here." Bella gasped.

"I'm so glad you did." Alice chirped, holding Bella's hand.

I was positively burning in jealousy.

"You have to tell me everything that happened." Bella demanded. "Though I got part of the story."

Alice nodded. "But I want you to meet my family."

"Of course." Bella smiled pleasantly, smiling at us all. She looked surprised.

"The largest coven I've ever seen." She murmured, impressed.

"My mate- Jasper." Alice said, poking Jasper's chest. Jasper's smile was warm.

Bella gasped in surprise. She looked happy, probably happy that Alice found her mate.

"Esme and Carlisle, my parents." Alice smirked.

Bella shook both their hands.

"Emmett and Rosalie." She said.

Both their eyes were the size of saucers.

"Umm...is something wrong?" Bella mumbled.

"Oh, they're quite surprised that you're alive, but really happy that you are. Give them some time to recover." Alice said cheerfully.

"Alice." I warned.

"Oh, and that's my brother. Edward." She said.

"He's your _brother_?" Bella sputtered.

"Is something wrong?" Alice asked, smiling knowingly.

Stupid pixie, she already knew. I bet she told them too. Bella turned to Carlisle and Esme with a look of defiance. Cute.

"You really need to teach your son some manners." She grumbled.

"Oh, sorry." Esme said, looking apologetic. I knew better. She probably tap-danced at home when Alice had that vision. I would have.

"Come with us, Bella!" Alice chirped.

"I'm not sure." Bella said.

"Oh, come on! I know you're going to come." Alice said, pouting.

"You still see the future?" Bella asked in wonder.

"Yeah, and it's much more improved." Alice said, nodding. "Come on!"

"Fine." Bella sighed.

I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Bella. When we started running, I attempted to grab Bella's hand but she pushed it away, giving me 'get lost, pervert' look.

I groaned and followed.


	15. Finding Out

The house usually felt like just _house_. But when Bella came and sat on the couch, it felt like _home_. For once, I felt completely at ease around my family, knowing that I wasn't alone anymore. It felt complete.

"So, how did you guys find out about me?" Bella asked.

That was the one question that we all were hoping she wouldn't ask. But Bella was always so curious. I remembered that she used to ask me many questions when we were kids.

"We'll save that for later, tell us about yourself, first." Alice said, grinning.

"Let's see...my last human memories. I was near some woods in a place little far away from Biloxi. I knew that I came there to find Mary- I mean, Alice. I don't remember anything else." She said, all the while staring at Alice.

"And you found her?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes. I found her- being killed by a vampire-" Bella was interrupted by Jasper's furious growl.

She raised her eyebrows but continued. "-or so I thought. He was changing her."

"Why? Was she sick, dying?" Esme asked anxiously.

We had been curious about Alice's past since she came a part of the family.

"No. A vampire was hunting her, and William- the vampire who changed her- he was trying to protect her from the hunter. That's why he changed Ma-Alice." She said.

"Oh." Jasper's face fell.

"And how did you change?" I asked.

She shot me an annoyed look. "The hunter- James, he killed William. And he didn't know I watching..."

It must have been very, very hard for a human...her best friend screaming in pain while the person who gave her the pain was being killed by someone who wanted to kill her best friend...confusing, but still painful.

"He drank from me and left me in the middle of the woods, away from Alice. When I woke up from the pain, I went to search for her-" Emmett cut her off.

"Wait, you searched for her, right after you woke up?" He asked.

"Yeah." Bella said, nodding. "Why?"

"Weren't you thirsty?" Jasper asked curiously.

"I was, but I needed to find Alice." Bella said simply.

She was impossible, my Bella.

Alice and Esme beamed. I was pretty sure that I was smiling, too. She was easily fitting in with my family. And if I was lucky, it would be _our_ family, soon...

"And then what happened?" Rosalie demanded.

"I hunted- it was disgusting, but I knew I had to. Or else I'd have to hurt those humans." she shuddered.

"But how did you know what you had become?" Carlisle asked.

"Only one kind drinks blood." Bella said. "And I remember that someone from my human life used to tell me stories about vampires and other mythical creatures."

"Me." I said.

"Huh?" She murmured.

"It was me. I told you those stories. I used to tell you stories near the pond every Friday. Don't you remember?" I asked.

"No." She replied curtly.

"Oh." My face fell and my heart fell even harder.

"You used to tell her vampire stories?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah, but not just them, some other scary stories too. But you never got scared. You'd laugh." I said, looking at Bella.

She narrowed her eyes. "I guess that's why I was scared of coming out in the sunlight for a few weeks."

We laughed.

"And what convinced you that you won't turn to ash when you will?" Rosalie asked, smiling.

"I decided that it wouldn't matter if I did." She said, looking slightly uncomfortable.

I felt angry. Why, was she suicidal? I mean, if she thought it was dangerous, she should avoid it, right? She was still reckless. I'll have to take care of that.

"So? Are you ready to answer my question now that you know about me?" She asked.

"Umm, yeah..." Alice murmured, passing the diaries to her.

"What are these?" She asked.

"Your diaries. You might...start remembering things if you read them. Why don't you give it a try?" Alice asked.

"Are you trying to hook me up with him?" She asked, annoyed.

I bit back a laugh, and I was sure the other did too.

"We won't need to, if you remember everything." Jasper said, grinning broadly.

"You can read in _my_ room!" I said excitedly.

Alice, Emmett and Jasper shared sly, knowing grins with each other while Rosalie bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. Esme was singing inside her head and Carlisle was happy, too.

"I'm quite used to the forest, actually." She said, glaring at me.

"Please?" I stuck out my bottom lip like I used to when I was human.

Her expression softened. Hah, that look always got her to melt.

"Fine." She huffed.

Emmett and Jasper silently high-fived.

"But you're gonna stay out." She snapped at me.

My grin fell.

"Esme, Carlisle, all of you- Thank you for letti-"" She paused, blinking. I wondered if anything was wrong and went to her side.

"You read my diary?" she hissed at us.


	16. Backup Plan

"You read my diary?" She repeated, looking angry and irritated.

We didn't know what to say.

"We thought you were dead!" Alice squealed.

"What a nice excuse." Bella grumbled. "So do you guys go on reading diaries of supposedly dead people?"

"No, we read it because we found it in Edward's house and we were curious." Jasper said.

"Curious, huh? You were curious to uncover the deep, dark secrets of an insecure, confused teenage girl?" She whispered angrily.

I would have laughed if she hadn't looked so murderous. If looks could kill, all seven of us vampires would have dropped dead in front of the burning glare of Bella.

"We definitely didn't think of it that way." Carlisle said, looking embarrassed.

"Of course you didn't! Ma-Alice, why did you let them read my diary?" She shouted.

"I didn't remember you, and I still don't! I just knew you were my friend because I read the diary!" She wailed.

Bella gasped, and then turned to me. "I suppose _you_ were the one who suggested reading the diary?"

"No!" I said.

"Actually, he was against reading it most of the time. It was Alice and me who encouraged it." Rosalie admitted.

Bella looked embarrassed. "Sorry. I just thought...you know, you being a pervert and all."

She was looking at me. I can't believe she called me a _pervert_.

Emmett snickered.

"I just missed you." I mumbled, jutting out my bottom lip.

Bella's eyes warmed up, like they usually did when I did so.

"I don't know you." She murmured.

"I didn't know you, too. At least, until I saw you, and then I remembered." I said.

"Maybe if you read the diary, you'd remember Edward. You know, the opposite of what happened to Edward." Esme suggested.

"And if it doesn't work?" Rosalie asked.

"We'll come up with something else." Alice said, confident.

"Why do you want me to remember? I was okay without my memory for all these years." Bella muttered.

Esme sighed.

"Read, Bella!" Alice moaned, grabbing her hand and walking to the stairs.

I watched with irritation as Alice walked with Bella's hand in hers, both chattering happily, Bella occasionally smiling at Alice. And all Bella would do was glare at me.

I was a greater friend of Bella's. Hell, we used to best, best friends! She loved me more than Alice, right? So why was she ignoring me, treating me like she hated me? I felt like the biggest loser in the world.

"She's started to read." Alice said, reappearing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hope she remembers. She's still funny. _Pervert_- hah!" Emmett snickered.

"I think she was a bit rude." Rosalie said quietly.

"Well, wouldn't you be if a stranger hugged you and claimed that you were his mate?" Alice asked.

"I guess so." Rosalie muttered.

"And we invaded her privacy...if only we knew that she was still alive." Esme sighed.

"Well, technically, she's not alive." Emmett pointed out.

"Big help, Emmett," Jasper muttered.

"So, what do we do while we wait?" Alice asked.

"Like you don't know." I said.

Alice smiled. "We need a backup plan!"

"What for?" Carlisle asked, confused.

"What if Bella doesn't remember? She's got to remember or-" Alice was interrupted by Esme.

"Edward will be alone!" She said in horror.

I rolled my eyes.

"We'll take her back to her house in Chicago." Jasper said.

"_We_?" I echoed.

"I think Alice and Edward should go with her." Carlisle said.

"_Edward_? She hates Edward." Rosalie said.

I glared at her.

"But will she come with you?" Esme asked worriedly.

"She'll follow her Mary anywhere, by the looks of it." Emmett said, smirking.

"If Alice is going, I'm going, too." Jasper said, looking serious.

"Jazz." Alice said. "I'll be okay."

Jasper narrowed his eyes.

"Besides, if you come, Emmett and Rosalie will want to come, too. And then Carlisle and Esme...it'll be like a family trip and Bella won't like that." Alice explained.

Esme was upset at the last sentence.

"She likes you, Esme." Jasper said reassuringly.

"You mean you can sense what she feels?" I asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Jasper asked.

"I can't read her mind." I said.

"_Lucky_!" Alice, Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett said together.


	17. Not That Bad

**Bella's POV:**

_Isabella Swan_

_September 13, 1912_

September 13th was my birthday. I remembered that much.

**Dear diary, it's the first time I write in you (obviously). I'm so glad Aunty Elizabeth gave me this dairy! I've wanted one for a long time.**

Of course, I loved to write.

**Today is my birthday. I'm finally ten years old! It feels wonderful to have a two-digit number for your age.**

Even better having a three-digit number. I was 106 years old, and I was proud of it, too.

**Daddy arranged a great party for me. Jessamine, Angelica, Laura and Rachel were there. That's not the best part though. Guess who Aunty Elizabeth brought to my party?**

Vague images of girls in puffy gowns and curled hair came to my mind.

**Edward!**

Hmm. Much as I hated to admit it, the pervert was right. Maybe it was some silly schoolgirl crush that I got over with...I hoped so. Then I remembered that I didn't go to school.

**I sometimes wish everyone in the world could have a friend like him. We had been friends for years. Since mommy and Aunty Elizabeth had been great friends, I and Edward had met at a very early age. I am so glad that we had. He is just three years older than me, but Aunty Elizabeth says I'm more mature than him.**

Well, obviously I am. I don't go around hugging strangers. But now he was just two years older than me, seeing that I was changed at sixteen and him at eighteen. Maybe.

**I don't think that it's true though,**

Well, I do now.

**I think of Edward as a very silent and polite person.**

Whoa, I seriously hit my head somewhere. Or maybe the venom changed Mr. PervyPants into what he was now.

**He only talks to me because we had been friends for so long, and we had the same taste in music. We both loved piano music, and recently, Edward's father, Edward Senior, bought him a grand piano. He goes for lessons, and I must admit, he's excellent as a beginner. I feel very jealous of him. When mommy takes me to the Masen's house to see Aunty Elizabeth, Edward and I go to his room and he plays the piano for me.**

That explained the baby grand.

**So today, after the party, we went to his house. He said he had a surprise for me. It was a beautiful surprise, diary. He wrote a song for me!**

I involuntarily gagged. Was this just some stupid, sick romance story I wrote?

**It was so wonderful; I could listen to it for hours. But unfortunately, mommy called me after three hours.**

Mommy? I used to call that filthy hypocrite _mommy_?

"**Goodbye, Bella. And happy birthday again." Edward wished.**

"**Thank you." I said shyly.**

"**Come again soon, Renee. And bring Bella, too." Aunty Elizabeth said before we left.**

Aunty Elizabeth...Yes, I remembered a sweet lady in bright coloured gowns and reddish brown hair...and her green eyes too, which seemed to be sparkling always.

**So I left unwillingly, came home, opened my gifts, found you and went to my room. And I wrote on you, and now mommy's calling me for dinner so I better go. And I have to finish my lessons for tomorrow or the governess won't be so happy with me.**

Governess. Gag.

**Oh, and I forgot to mention. My name is Isabella Swan, but everyone calls me Bella.**

**Umm, I smell fresh bread, diary. And I also hear my mother screaming, so I probably ought to go. I will write on you when something interesting happens. Goodnight, Bella.**

Screaming like a banshee. Oh yes, I remembered that, and also the sweet, fluffy bread Angela used to make. It was amazing how much I started remembering after I read this.

I turned the pages, reading on about my abusive hag of a mother, Geraldine Banner and the infamous rope which had the colour of Mr. PervyPants's hair, and...Dr. Cullen.

He had treated me. No wonder he looked familiar. I turned the page again, surprised that he dedicated a song to me in such a huge competition, Aunt Elizabeth's party...And then, the happy day I met Mary- or Alice, and how mesmerized I was with her abilities...but, _my toes are the colour of Edward's hair?_

That was a bit pathetic.

I looked at the pictures of my mother and father, Jessamine, Angelica, Laura and Rachel. The next chapter was cute, and I had to smile at the little rain dance. And the cake part...it was sweet of him, but he was still Mr. PervyPants.

The next entry, I almost cried when I read Mary's letter, and she looked so pretty when she was young. But it seemed strange; I had already met half the Cullen family in my human life.

And Ephraim! I remember Ephraim, the idiot who I had a crush on. I laughed at PervyPants and Ephraim's behaviour. And little Ephraim was cute.

I smiled at the list I made of Ephraim's good qualities.

_I'd probably act like a starved cheetah._ I was a funny girl back then, but my depressed life had changed me so much.

I didn't like the part where I acknowledged PervyPants as my bestest best friend, but I guess it's oaky since he wasn't a pervert back then.

_His I'm-a-well-refined-goody pants-voice. _Now he sounded like a depressed, heartbroken guy. Or at least he did when he poke to me.

I remembered the line I had wanted to complete before Renée snatched my diary away.

_Sometimes, I think Edward is a little jealous of me spending time with Ephraim. _

In the next entry, I almost wanted to break all of PervyPants's possessions, crash down his door and strangle him. I mean, he forcibly _kissed _me! Well, that sounded a lot like who he was now. And I liked it. That was the embarrassing part.

I felt numb when I read about my engagement. Was I really that much in love with him? It looked like it wasn't a silly crush anymore. It was romantic, so sweet, and I liked it. No wonder he reacted that way. He loved me...?

It was bittersweet, about the influenza...and he died...or so I thought. I was right, he was breathing when he was wheeled away. I understood Carlisle Cullen's mood, why he acted that way around Edward.

I didn't really go to find Ephraim; I decided that he was worthless. When I finally finished with the diaries, I headed downstairs. Everyone was looking at me in an expectant way. Edward looked like a helpless, lost puppy. My dead heart immediately melted. Stupid metal heart.

I took in their eager glances and a deep breath.

"Well, I guess..." I said after a pause. "That PervyPants isn't all that bad."


	18. Not For You

**Edward's POV:**

Pervypants. Bloody hell.

"Pervypants?" Emmett said, trying to hold back his laughter.

Bella clapped her hand over her mouth. I couldn't help noticing how nicely shaped her fingers were...I definitely wouldn't mind holding hands with her for the rest of eternity...But Pervypants...really, was I that bad? I only held her because I wanted to feel her warm, little body pressed up against mine. I remembered when we sat in the park bench in twilight, me holding her in my arms while I hummed a tune in her ear. Wow, we definitely had so much fun.

"Well, I don't know what else to call you..." Bella said, biting her lip.

She always did that when she was nervous. I loved it when she did. It was so freaking adorable.

"You can call me _Edward_." I said in a bored voice.

"Edward doesn't suit you." She said.

"But I bet Mr. Well-refined goodypervypants does." Emmett said, nodding.

Bella looked as if she would blush. I loved it when she blushed. That little pinkish colour turning to red to scarlet and spreading over her soft cheeks to that creamy neck...

"You've got nice nicknames, Bella." Jasper said. "But anyway..."

"Do you remember?" Esme asked softly. She looked even more hopeful than me.

"Bits and pieces. I think I have a faint click of the hospital...I can remember us holding hands, but that's all I remember about him." Bella said, looking at me.

She definitely seemed uncomfortable.

"Bella...can I talk to you?" Alice asked. "Just me and Edward."

Bella narrowed her eyes, but nodded her head.

The others took the hint and marched off to God knows where. Not that I cared. All I cared about now was me and Bella.

Alice put her small hand on Bella's shoulder.

"Bella, I know Edward hasn't been that pleasant to you, but I swear, he's a wonderful person." Alice said.

"Of course you'd say that, you're his-" Alice put her finger to Bella's lips, silencing her.

"Just hear me about, Bella. He's been alone for a century now, and being with six people, all of them with mates...well, you can guess how horrible that must have been for him."

"But _I _managed to be just fine a century without a mate."

"I told you why. You haven't seen the connection between mates. Edward had, and in a very close way. He can read minds, Bella." Bella gasped, but Alice continued. "Except yours, I might add. But Bella, the point is that he's not just seen that connection, he's _felt_ it through us. And now he knows what he's been missing. Tell me, haven't you always felt incomplete? Like something was missing?"

"Yes, but I never thought-" Bella sighed, shaking her head.

"I've never felt complete before I met Jasper. And Edward, he's been with us for so long, and he's felt alone for so long. Bella, it's _painful_. Very painful. Sometimes, vampires kill themselves because they're so lonely." Alice said. Her voice had a slight note of hysteria. "And Edward - Bella, he was seriously considering going to kill himself, but then he saw you."

"I didn't know that." Bella whispered, staring at me.

I felt like a schmuck.

"Give him a chance, Bella. Please." Alice said. "You could both be happy, like you used to be. It would be perfect."

"But I can't remember! I tried, I tried hard, I can't remember."

"Bella, no one's forcing you to do anything." I said.

"There's a simple way for you to remember. We can go back to Chicago."

"Where I lived? And?"

"And visit the places you've been with Edward. That might trigger something."

"Okay, but if it doesn't work-"

"It will! I'm positive." Alice's face broke into a large smile. "I can see you remembering, I just don't see how."

I was beaming, I was so, so happy. In fact, I don't remember being so happy once in my lifetime. I fought the urge to snatch Bella into my hands and bury my face in her hair. It had always soothed me. When I was angry or sad, Bella would stroke my hair or hold my head to her neck. Her fingers on my hair and her sweet scent always calmed me down. And then she would whisper sweet, loving things in my ear. It felt wonderful to have those plump, pinkish red and soft lips pressed against my ear.

I smiled gratefully at Alice.

_Don't think I'm doing this for you_, she said in her mind. _I heard that Chicago has excellent shopping malls._

_

* * *

__**Terribly short, I know, but my summer holidays are going to start soon and I'm going to start writing long chapters soon.**_


	19. Again and Again and

"Why do I have to sit with him?" Bella asked, clearly annoyed.

"I'm sitting with you, too." Alice said.

"Not really." Bella muttered. "Why can't you sit in the middle, Alice? Why should it be me?"

"Hey, come on, it's not my fault, it's the airline company's fault!" Alice said, pouting.

"Whatever." Bella said, sighing. "How soon do we get there?"

"Sixteen minutes." Alice replied, grinning.

"Is it going to be sunny?" I asked.

"Edward, I wouldn't pick a sunny day, would I?" She asked, sounding insulted. "It's pretty cloudy. Kind of like Forks on a warm day."

"What're we going to do once we reach the airport?" Bella asked.

"You remember your house, right?" Alice asked.

"Right." Bella replied.

_My precious gem._

"Good. We'll go there." Alice said. "Oh, your house is so pretty!"

"Is it?" Bella asked, raising her eyebrows.

"You know the guy you sold your house to? He got married and now his grandkid's living there. And maybe it's your luck- he married an interior designer." Alice said, smiling.

"Is the guy dead? The one who bough the house?" I asked.

There would be quite a problem if he wasn't.

"Oh, yeah." Alice said.

"But his son...he saw me once, when he came with his family." Bella said.

"The guy who's currently staying there, the one with the designer wife- his father, the one who saw you- he's vacationing in India with his wife, so we have nothing to worry about." Alice said.

* * *

Alice was right. The house looked wonderful. It looked very different than how I remembered it.

"Just tell us when you get one little memory, okay?" Alice said.

"Sure." Bella said.

Alice rang the bell. A woman who was visibly expecting opened the door.

"Oh, hello." She said. "Can I help you?"

"Would you mind if we looked around for a while?" Alice asked.

"Oh, God, are you detectives or something?" She asked, sounding terrified.

_Cops, here? George would never do anything like that...but they look too young to be in the police...Where have I seen that brunette before?_

Oh-oh.

I slowly whispered what was on the woman's mind, low enough so that only Alice and Bella could hear. They both froze, and then Alice smiled.

"No, Mrs. Herbert, we are just tourists." Alice said, still smiling. "I'm Alice Cullen; this is my brother Edward and his fiancée, Bella."

Bella jumped and I smiled.

The woman gave a nervous smile.

"I'm Clara...and what are you here for?" She asked.

"You see, this house used to belong to Bella's grandmother, before she sold it your family. If you don't mind, Bella would like to see-"

"Of course, of course! I wondered where I've seen you before. There's a picture of someone in the upstairs floor, and she looks very much like you. That must be your grandmother?" Clara asked.

"Umm...yes." Bella said.

_But this girl looks much prettier than her grandmother, _Clara thought.

I smirked.

She opened the door and let us in.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Clara asked.

"No thanks." We said together.

Bella was running her eyes through every spot, occasionally smiling or frowning. The portrait of her was extremely beautiful, and she smiled when she saw it.

"Ahem." Alice coughed when we were in the attic. "Look what I found."

In her hands was a reddish brown whip- the one with my hair colour.

"Ah!" Bella said. "I remember."

"The cuts, not _you_." Bella added when I rushed to hug her.

"My room." Bella breathed when she entered a room which was clearly a nursery, all ready with baby products.

She pulled up the window and smiled.

"Ephraim's house." She giggled.

I didn't find anything remotely funny about that.

"Hey, Edward, is that the park where you used to tell her stories?" Alice asked, pointing to a grass-filled place a few yards away.

"Yeah." I said.

Bella shook her head when we looked at her.

"Then let's go." Alice sighed.

"Oh, are you done?" Clara asked when she came down.

"Yeah, thank you." I said.

* * *

"And we sat there, on that bench." I said, pointing to a shady corner near the pool.

"Wow." She said.

"Your mother's funeral was there." I said, pointing to another place.

Bella shrugged.

"And right under this tree...we kissed for the first time." I said.

"No, you kissed for the first time." She corrected.

"You kissed me back." I said, grinning.

"I was stupid then!" She said.

I laughed. Suddenly, an evil idea flashed into my mind.

Let's see, Bella was still the tiny angel she was. I was almost a foot taller than her and I was definitely stronger than her. Hell, I could lift her up with my pinkie.

I grabbed her by the waist, and ignoring her protests, shoved her against the tree I had shoved her against decades before and then I crashed my lips onto hers. Ah, sweet lord. It felt so good. Better than drinking human blood. And that was telling something.

I continued moving my lips, forcing hers to move with mine. _Please, let this work._

I pulled back and looked into her huge golden eyes.

"Oh my God." She whispered. "Oh my God."

Then she threw herself into my arms and pressed her lips to mine.

* * *

**I had chicken-pox and it sucks, so that's why it took me ages to update. Sorry.**


	20. Found it

We both pulled apart, panting and gasping. Then Bella started giggling and I had to laugh with her, too. I wrapped my arms around and pulled her close to me. She rested her head on my neck. She sighed when I started stroking her hair.

"Vampires are heartless and cold monsters?" She mumbled into my shirt.

I remember saying that to her, almost a hundred years ago when we sat here.

"Time changed." I whispered.

"I missed you. Except I really didn't know what I missed." She said.

"Me too. But when I started reading the diary, I knew." I said.

"I'm sorry I called you Pervypants." She said. "That was mean. Even if you are one."

"It's okay." I said.

"But why'd you let them read my diary?" She asked, now looking upset.

"I didn't know it would bother you so much."

"I guess it's a good thing, though." She said after some time. "We would never have found out each other if you and your family hadn't read it."

I shuddered to think about that.

I moaned softly.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked, sounding worried.

"Alice." I said.

"Oh."

"Hey, you two! Get your lovey-dovey butts back here! We have places to go!" Alice screamed.

"Where?" I moaned. "I thought the flight to Forks was tomorrow."

"We're going to your place, dummy." Alice said. "I had a vision and it's much more interesting than your Notebook scenes."

* * *

"This is where I found your diaries, Bella." I said. "Well, Alice found them, but it was on _my_ property."

Alice stuck her tongue out at me. "Moron."

In one quick motion, I kneeled down in front of Bella. She gasped.

"Marry me, Bella?" I whispered. "I love you."

She stared at me for a long, long time. Then she laughed nervously and flung her arms around me.

"God, yes. Yes, yes, yes!" She screamed.

I slowly slipped my mother's ring into her finger.

"Thank you." I whispered.

I turned around and saw that Alice had disappeared. I knew she meant to give us privacy, but she had already seen the whole seen in her mind so it didn't really count. I heard noises that clearly told me that she was busy searching for something. When I tried to read her mind, she busily started translating old McDonald into Spanish.

"She's hiding something, isn't she?" Bella asked, seeing my annoyed expression.

"Yes." I sighed.

"Oh my God, Bella, I found it!" She screamed, jumping up and down. "I found Edward's diary!"


	21. Sing a Song

"Edward's diary?" Esme.

"Edward wrote a diary?" Rosalie.

"Another diary!" Emmett.

"You found Edward's diary?" Carlisle.

"Edward's diary!" Jasper.

"Well, yes." Alice said with a proud smile.

"Oh my freaking God! I just died and went to diary heaven." Emmett screamed.

He and Jasper started laughing like maniacs and then put their head together, probably to compose a song. They did that when they were happy, and it usually ended up in a fight, with Esme and Rosalie screaming in the background and Alice giggling while Carlisle looked defeated.

"I can imagine what's in that." Rosalie said, smirking at me.

"We are not going to read it." I said firmly.

"Yes, we are. You read my diary, so I get to read yours. And the rest of your family, too." Bella said, looking angrily at me.

"Bella, love, I'm sure it's not that interesting." I said.

"Pretty, please, Ed-ward?" She stretched the 'ward' and put her cute little pouty bottom lip out.

I found my heart melting like a Popsicle left outside in the sun.

"Of course, love, anything you want." I whispered.

"Aw, Bella, I think vampire slavery was abolished!" Jasper screamed from the couch.

"Yeah, we might have to take you to Italy if you don't stop practicing it!" Emmett added.

Bella giggled and stood on tiptoes to give me a kiss on the cheek. Ever since our major make out session in the garden, she had been depraving me of my right to get kisses.

"We're ready!" Emmett said. "Let's fire away, Jazz!"

_**Once there was a little boy**_

_**His name was Eddie Masen**_

"My name is not Eddie!" I shouted.

_**In playing the piano he found joy**_

_**Until there came a little girl of ten**_

"Is that me?" Bella asked.

_**Bellyboo was her name**_

_**And romance writing was her game**_

"It's _diary_ writing!" Bella complained.

_**And when this dynamic duo met**_

_**Eddie became her pet**_

Bella started giggling. "True."

_**Together they had many a scene**_

_**Which was all definitely PG-13**_

"WHAT?" Bella screamed.

_**It was all so perfect**_

_**Until there came a new subject**_

"Ephraim!" Alice cheered.

_**And there was a fight for Bellyboo's love**_

_**But Eddie was still her little dove**_

"Dove? Are you serious?" I screamed.

_**But then Bellyboo was taken away**_

"By her evil mom." Rosalie said, nodding.

_**And Eddie's life became grey**_

"So sad, so sad." Alice sighed.

_**Many a night Bellyboo cried**_

_**Till the day her mother died**_

"That makes me sound evil." Bella huffed.

_**And the lovers were reunited**_

_**And there little world was again lighted**_

"That's sweet." Esme sighed.

_**But then that vile Eddie**_

"Vile?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

_**Got very, very heady**_

"I wasn't heady; I had it planned for many weeks!" I protested.

"You planned to force-kiss her for weeks?" Rosalie asked.

_**Then he pushed Bellyboo to a tree**_

_**And she started screaming like a banshee**_

"I did not!" Bella said. "I didn't say a word!"

"Bells, we needed rhyming words." Emmett sighed.

_**And he attacked the poor girl**_

_**Causing her to hurl**_

"Hey! I didn't hurl!" Bella said.

_**But then she attacked him too**_

_**And from then they stuck like glue**_

"It wasn't attacking, it was kissing!" I said.

_**And one day Eddie got on his knees**_

_**And said will you marry me, please?**_

"Aw!" Alice and Rosalie gushed.

_**Bellyboo jumped up and down**_

_**And Eddie grinned like a clown**_

Bella giggled. "How true."

_**They in-laws didn't have any fight**_

_**So they toasted and kissed all night**_

"No, we didn't." I and Bella said together.

_**They both said I love you,**_

_**But then came the Spanish flu**_

I held Bella closer to my chest and she whimpered quietly.

"Emmett." I hissed.

_**And they both said cheesy lines**_

"It was romantic, not cheesy." Esme said angrily.

"It's the same for us." Emmett said, shrugging.

_**But Bellyboo refused to see the signs**_

"The signs? Oh, come on." Bella groaned.

_**That Carly the bad vampy had made his mind**_

_**But alas! Our Bellyboo was too blind**_

"How could I have known?" Bella demanded.

_**Poor Bellyboo waited for her love in vain**_

_**But at that time Eddie was screaming in pain**_

Bella sighed.

"Emmett, Jasper!" I growled.

_**So little Bellyboo decided to roam**_

_**And for that she left her home**_

"I wasn't really roaming; I knew where I had to go." Bella said.

_**So she went to find psycho Mary**_

_**And she left behind her diary**_

"Hey!" Alice said.

_**Little Mary had been kept in an asylum**_

_**But now she was in the woods eating phylum**_

"I wasn't eating phylum, I ate animals!" Alice said, now very angry.

_**And an evil vampy changed Bellyboo**_

_**But Bellyboo had no idea what to do**_

"I did too!" Bella said, pouting.

Aww.

_**So she started searching for her pal**_

_**But Mary was in Cafe Royal**_

"What?" Alice shouted.

_**Where she was making out with soldier boy**_

_**And in that she found a lot of joy**_

Alice giggled.

_**Then Eddie found out Bellyboo's diary**_

_**And started reading it without any enquiry**_

"Humph." Bella huffed.

_**He got hot and bothered reading it**_

_**So he went to his pit to cool off a bit**_

"My pit?" I asked disbelievingly.

_**And there he found a vampire girl**_

_**He lost it and let his emotions unfurl**_

"You mean the hormonal ones?" Rosalie asked with a smirk.

_**He attacked her once more**_

_**But this time he didn't score**_

I bit my lip while Bella giggled.

_**Bellyboo got her diary back**_

_**But all she did was yack**_

"I was angry with you, that's why!" Bella said.

_**Then she went to Chicago**_

_**And when Eddie gave her a good blow**_

"You hit her?" Esme screamed.

"No!" I said.

_**She started remembering everything**_

_**And Eddie put on her finger the ring**_

"Heh, heh." Alice laughed.

_**And then Mary found Eddie's diary**_

_**With dreams which will be surely fiery**_

"Fiery, as in hormonal." Rosalie said. "Good."

"Is hormones all you can think of?" I asked.

"It's what _you_ think about all the time, isn't it?" Rosalie asked.

_**And Eddie will be so mortified**_

_**But our humour is going to be fortified**_

"You bet it is!" Emmett screamed.

"Well, then, let's start reading!" Alice said excitedly.

We took our regular reading positions- Carlisle and Esme on the armchair, Jasper and Alice on the sofa, Emmett and Rosalie in the beanbag chairs. I usually sat alone in the cushioned piano chair, but today Bella sat next to me, holding my hand.

"Let's start by age this time." Alice said, passing my diary to Carlisle. "Which means you're the last, okay, Bella?"

"But Rosalie, Esme and Emmett are younger than me!" I said.

"Physical age." Alice said, smirking.

I knew what I had written in that diary. I'd probably die before Carlisle finished the first chapter.


	22. Soul Mates

Alice and Esme had cleaned off most of the dust, and now it looked sparkling new. The pages were still visible and clear- Edward had put the book in a metal box. The front was deep red with golden illustrations.

_Property of Edward Anthony Masen_

"Maybe we should get a choker like that for Bella." Emmett said.

_**September 16**__**th**_

"That's the day you got whipped." Rosalie said. "Did it hurt much?"

Bella pushed the sleeve of her sweater to reveal faint marks.

"That must have been pretty deep, to leave marks like that even after your change…" Carlisle said, looking amazed.

**After weeks of finding ways to ask her, I'm finally ready. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. She didn't scream or laugh at me or anything.**

"Who are you talking about?" Esme asked.

Edward just bit his lip.

**So I just went up to hr today and stood there in silence, watching her knit.**

"**Can I do anything for you, Edward?" She asked.**

"**Can you answer my question?" I asked.**

"This is boring! Where's all the romance?" Emmett asked.

Edward was still frozen.

"**Of course." She answered.**

**The reason I picked my mother to ask this question to was because she was the most literate of us, even father. And she read a lot of romance novels.**

"Aha! So there is some romance in there." Jasper said. "I wonder what question you had…"

"I'll say it's time for Elizabeth to give 'the talk'." Emmett said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"No, it's not that." Edward said.

"**What do you think soulmates are?"**

"Well, well." Emmett sighed. "So young and yet…"

"**A ****soulmate**** is a person with whom one has a feeling of deep and natural affinity, love, intimacy and compatibility. They are the one and only other half of one's soul, for which all souls are driven to find and join."**

"That's a nice way of putting it." Esme said, smiling.

**Okay. **

**Deep and natural affinity? Yes.**

"What are you talking about? We are nothing alike!" Bella said.

"Opposites attract." Jasper reminded.

"Not just attract." Emmett added.

**Love? Oh, **_**yes, yes, yes**_**, but she has absolutely no idea.**

"Oops." Bella said, looking embarrassed.

"Ah, the pains of unrequited love." Emmett sighed. "My poor, poor Eddie. How could you be so cruel, Bella?"

Bella and Edward glared at him.

**Intimacy? Sure, I can understand her very well.**

**Compatibility? We are made for each other!**

"True." Bella said, giggling.

Emmett gagged while Esme smiled at the two of them.

**So is Bella my soulmate? Yes. A thousand times yes. But she doesn't know. She just thinks of me as a friend! Even after I dropped all those hints…that girl is so clueless.**

"Hey!" Bella said.

**I know we're too young, but we are soulmates! Nothing can come between soulmates!**

"Except cute boys by the name of Ephraim Black." Jasper said.

"He didn't really come between us, you know." Bella said.

"Of course he didn't. Your bed is too small to hold three." Emmett said.

Bella gasped. "Oh my God, Emmett, you did not say that!"

"Did I say that?" Emmett asked Jasper.

"Sure you did." Jasper said, nodding.

"Can we continue with the reading, please?" Esme asked, trying not to smile.

**I'm going to my Bella's house today. Write later.**

"Jeez, possessive much?" Alice asked.

"That's why the choker is going o be such a perfect gift!" Emmett complained.

**Bella really needs someone to take care of her.**

"In more than one way." Emmett said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"And Edward's there to take care of her special needs." Jasper added.

**I cannot believe that she kept something like that from me. I thought soulmates told each other all of their problems! But I think I can excuse that since Bella doesn't really know that we're soulmates. **

"Er…is it just me or does Edward sound a bit too much childish?" Alice asked.

"He is." Esme agreed. "But in a nice way."

Bella and Edward smiled at each other.

**But one day soon, she will know. Maybe it would take a few years, but I'm ready to wait. Usually, I'm a very impatient person-**

"You can say that again." Rosalie said.

**-but I'm ready to wait for Bella no matter how long it takes.**

"Aww!" Esme and Alice cooed.

"I bet you never thought you'd have to wait a century." Bella said.

"It's better than never having you." Edward said.

**I felt so scared when I saw those vicious cuts on her skin today. I wanted to hit her teacher so badly-**

"Edward, that's not nice at all!" Esme snapped.

"What was I supposed to do, she was hurting Bella so much!" Edward complained.

**I know I'm too young to fall in love and all but there is no age bar for soulmates, right?**

"Why are you so obsessed with these soulmates?" Carlisle asked.

"Because I knew I've found mine." Edward smiled.

"When did this get so cheesy?" Emmett. "Come on, Edward, when do the sloppy dreams come?"

"Humph." Edward huffed.

"He wrote about his wet dreams!" Jasper and Emmett screamed together.

"Oh my God, that is so awesome!" Alice said, jumping up and down and hugging Jasper.

"Why are you excited about that? If you want to read R-rated stuff, then-" Edward said.

"R! It's enough to get an R-rating! Oh my freaking God, what all did you dream about?" Rosalie asked, looking amazed.

"Okay, I'm going to shut up now." Edward decided, pulling Bella to his lap as she started giggling.

**When we're both seventeen, I'm going to propose to her.**

"And you did." Esme beamed.

**Of course she'll accept. I'll make sure she does.**

"Cocky jackass." Rosalie muttered.

**I'm going to buy her a pretty house just for the two of us in a lonely place full of trees and grass and a little river.**

"Isn't that romantic?" Alice sighed.

**We'll grow all sorts of flowers and plants in our gardens. Maybe we could have pets.**

"But you would probably end up eating them." Jasper pointed out. "You know, a quick-snack."

"I think Edward would look good in a collar…what about Edward in a little cage? We could write Killer on his feed bowl." Emmett suggested.

Rosalie and Alice started laughing hysterically while Bella smiled.

"Emmett. Shut up. Now." Edward growled.

**I'd buy her flowers every day and shower her with gifts. I could read to her from our favorite books and play her favorite tunes all night. And then we could have a quiet little dinner and then we could dance for hours in our garden…**

Every female broke into a chorus of aww's.

"Why didn't you ever say all that to me?" Bella asked.

"I thought you would be scared." Edward.

"Of course it's scary, you're acting like a freaking stalker!" Rosalie said.

Edward looked a little embarrassed at that.

"You stalked her!" Alice screamed.

Bella raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Edward, that is so wrong…" Esme said in a disappointed voice.

"I couldn't help it! Her mother kept her locked up half the time!" Edward said.

Esme sighed.

**Enough of my little fantasy. I have to go to bed.**

"Who's next?" Carlisle asked.

"Me." Esme said, taking the diary from Carlisle.

"What's in this bit of paper?" Rosalie asked as an old piece of paper fell from the next page. "Love letters?"

Edward smirked. "Why don't you open it?"


	23. A Pretty Picture It Gives

**_I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my friend Anu, who still can't believe that I wrote this story. I heart you, Anu!_

* * *

**

Esme's face broke into a huge smile.

"It's a letter." She said.

"Oh, God, I've had enough of cheesy romance for one night." Rosalie groaned.

**Dear Bella, you always say that you're a plain, average girl. But you should know that you're really not. In fact, you're quite the opposite. I would say this even if I wasn't so completely in love with you.**

"Cheese. Cheese. Cut it out!" Rosalie screamed.

**Let me start with your beautiful, beautiful face. Bella, no artist could ever capture your magnificent features.**

"Except a nice camera." Jasper said.

**Your hair is so soft and I want to run my hands through it every time I see you.**

"You touched my hair?" Bella asked.

"Umm...curiosity." Edward muttered.

**You say that it is a quite boring colour, but to me, your pretty brown eyes are like nothing I've ever seen.**

"Except a snickers bar." Emmett said.

"You don't need to add in all that, you know. Edward looks like he's going to turn red." Alice said.

**And your lips...I'm not going to describe that because if I do, I might faint from need.**

Emmett and Jasper started coughing maniacally.

"Umm, Edward, did you write this yourself?" Carlisle asked.

"Unfortunately." Edward sighed.

"Hey, I like it. It feels nice to know that you felt that way bout me." Bella said, smiling at him.

"Um, guys, I'm not a mouse so I'm really not liking these cheesy lines, okay? Cut it out." Rosalie said.

"I think you're both adorable." Esme said, beaming.

**It's an unfortunate fact that you cannot feel how soft your skin is. It's softer than the most softest and expensive silk, Bella. And if I could, I would choose your skin as the mattress on my bed.**

"Aw, God, you're only twelve and you're writing all _that_!" Alice said, shocked.

"Poetic." Emmett said. "Our Eddie is destined to be an epic vampire romance writer. He's even better than Bellyboo."

**You are unbelievably tiny and I don't like the fact that you are so small and helpless. But, it gives you the need of a protection only **_**I**_** can give. Bella, I will keep you from any harm even if I have to destroy myself in the process.**

Rosalie sighed. "That is sweet."

"Agreed." Alice and Esme said, nodding.

Bella had a silly grin on her face.

**I want you to know that I love you more than anyone in this world had ever loved a person. And I will love you, even after death and through life.**

"But being a vampire doesn't count as either." Alice pointed out.

"I haven't reached death so that means I'm living, in a way. So it still counts." Edward replied, smiling.

"Brainy-wainy." Emmett muttered.

"Oh, that's all." Esme said.

"Read the next entry." Bella said, looking more excited than anyone else.

"It's your birthday." Esme said.

Emmett and Jasper smirked at each other.

"Good, I love getting the viewpoint of both of the people from the A scene." Emmett said.

"What're they talking about?" Bella asked.

"You'll see." Edward sighed.

"Oh, but I think you already saw _everything_ you need to see, Bella." Jasper said.

"Okay, I get the double meaning behind that and it's creeping me out, so I guess this is bad?" Bella asked.

"It is." I said.

**It rained so hard today, but for once I appreciate the rain.**

"Yeah, it hides you so well, so it's for you to do it in public." Emmett said.

"I'm not even going to bother telling him that we didn't do anything like that." Edward said.

"That's 'cause you did do something like that." Emmett said, pouting.

**I had the whole day off, so I went to see my Bella. It was the best day of my life, and judging by Bella's huge smile, I guess it was hers, too.**

"Wow, Eddie, I didn't know you were that good!" Emmett said.

**We jumped in the mud-**

"You must have gotten your clothes so dirty..." Esme said. "It's a good thing that your cold was only a mild one."

"Nah, they didn't get their clothes wet." Jasper said.

"Yeah, Mom, I'm sure they took off their clothes before doing the nasty." Emmett said.

"We did _not_ do anything nasty." Bella muttered.

**-and splashed each other with the rainwater. It was very nasty.**

Emmett, Rosalie, Alice and Jasper started laughing.

"See, even Eddie admits it's true." Emmett said.

"You _had_ to write that, didn't you?" Bella asked Edward.

**She got some mud into my mouth, so I pushed her (very gently, of course.) into the muddy water. I really hope she doesn't get into trouble. I wouldn't want her to be scolded because of me.**

**It was my birthday, but I don't want to celebrate it without my Bella so I went to her house.**

"**Happy birthday." She croaked.**

**Even when she had a cold, her voice was sweet.**

"I sounded like a frog!" Bella said, laughing.

"Not to me." Edward said.

**But she would never believe me if I said that, so I decided to say that she sounded awful. Right. Even if she started screaming in the worst possible way, to me, it would sound like angels signing.**

"That's a bit too much, you know." Alice said.

**Then I apologized for making her sick. She said that it wasn't my fault. Well, at least we both had a lot of fun.**

"I bet you did." Jasper said.

**I gave her cake, and she seemed to like it, but it was not fair in the end when she kicked me out. We just talked for about five minutes!**

"**It's a letter from Mary!" She said happily.**

"**Mary?" I asked. "The girl in Biloxi?"**

"**That's right."**

"**What about her?"**

"Well, the thing about her is that she's going to be your vampire sister in a few decades." Alice said, laughing. "I bet that would've been weird to say."

"**She's a really good friend."**

**Humph. No stupid Mary Brandon is going to replace me.**

"Hey!" Alice said. "You called me stupid!"

"Sorry." Edward apologized.

**I'll write again soon.**

"Who's next?" Esme asked.

"Me." Jasper said, taking the diary from Esme. "Oh, look. A pretty picture of Bella sleeping."

* * *

_**Sorry for the long, long wait. I'll probably post another on the 28th or after. **_


	24. I'm Sorry Bear

There was a very awkward minute of silence which was broken only when Rosalie stood up from her seat, walked over to Edward's seat and slapped him on the face. He flinched and then looked surprised. Then he turned to Bella with his puppy-dog eyes, ready to gain some pity, but all he got was a cold look.

"I just wanted to watch out for your safety." he murmured, peeking through his lashes at Bella.

"Are you sure safety's the only thing you watched out for, Eddie?" asked Emmett.

"What else would I-" Edward started saying, and then realized what Emmett meant. "I did nothing of that sort."

"You drew a picture of Bella sleeping. When you were _twelve_." said Jasper. "What's gonna happen when you turn older?"

"I was _thirteen_." snapped Edward.

"That's no age to go spy on a sleeping girl." Esme admonished.

"There is no age for spying on a sleeping girl! It's creepy and stalkerish! God Bella, how can you stand being next to that f-"

"Language, Rosalie." said Esme.

Rosalie bit her lip in anger and frustration.

"You're right." said Bella. "I can't."

She got up from her seat and went to sit next to Esme. Edward watched her with an expression which looked pathetically sad. He stood up and walked over to her, raising his arms in defeat.

"Bella, you should be happy, love, with a mother like that which friend wouldn't be worried? You're lucky that-" before he could complete his sentence, Bella raised her right foot and kicked him right were the sun didn't shine.

"Ow!" screamed Edward, jumping around.

Emmett and Jasper high-fived each other and then Bella.

"Why did you have to kick me _there_?" moaned Edward.

"Oh, stop moaning Eddie, it's not like you're going to need that any time soon-" Emmett said, laughing.

Bella and Alice let out giggles. Rosalie and Esme still looked livid.

"Can we start reading please?" Carlisle asked.

"Of course." Jasper said, turning away the picture of Bella sleeping.

**I'm not a creepy pervert, diary.**

"Oh, yes you are!" Rosalie said, glaring at Edward.

He rubbed his cheek, and hopped a little, apparently still in pain from Bella's kick.

**During her life, Bella had to endure a psychotic teacher, a horrible mother, an ignorant father and gossiping, stupid maids.**

"Gossiping maids aren't that bad." said Alice.

"You don't know what they used to talk about." said Bella, shuddering.

"I can imagine." Alice sighed.

**I could live with the father, teacher and maids but her mother I can't stand. She is **_**evil**_**.**

"Hate to agree with you on that one," Rosalie huffed. "No offence Bella, but your mother wasn't exactly mommy material."

Edward didn't make any comments.

**Just imagining all those horrible things she had done, is doing and will do to Bella makes my blood boil. It's like Renée Swan is trying to find a reason to hurt her only daughter all the time. That is not right, not at all. That's why I have to watch over Bella- to make sure that Renée doesn't hurt her.**

"Seriously, what do you think she's going to do to me? Strangle me and then choke me with a pillow when I'm asleep?"Bella asked.

"Yes." Rosalie and Edward said together.

"How can a mother do something like that?" Esme asked, looking disappointed and scared.

"She had her reasons." said Edward, surprising everyone.

"There is no excuse for abusing someone's own child!" Rosalie hissed.

"I'm not saying it's an excuse, but I don't blame Renée for the way she acted." Edward said.

"She told you something I didn't know?" Bella asked.

"Yes." Edward answered.

"Is it because her mommy was evil too? Or did she have an encounter with a UFO when she was young? Maybe she-"

"Something like that," Edward said, interrupting Emmett.

"What? An _evil mommy_?" Carlisle asked.

"No, a UFO." Edward said, grinning mysteriously.

**If Renée hurt Bella in the morning, there would be her father or some maids to interfere. But in the night, Renée would be at perfect liberty to do whatever she wished...In fact, for some days I had seen Renée peer inside Bella's room, studying Bella sleeping. She narrowed her eyes, pursed her lips and then left soon after. **

**Of course, if Bella knew, she would come to my room at night-**

"Edward Anthony Cullen, you know perfectly well that I am _not_ that kind of a girl!" Bella yelled, drawing back the sleeve of her shirt, ready to punch him.

Edward drew backward, shielding his face with his hands.

"It's not what you think!" Edward cried.

"_Oh yes it is_!" Bella said in a voice coated with acid.

"Jasper, you idiot, keep reading!" Edward told him.

**-and strangle me in my sleep.**

"Don't you mean straddle?" Emmett snickered.

"Emmett. Enough with the perverted jokes." Esme said.

"Fine, fine! Geez, you people have no sense of humour!" Emmett huffed.

'We do, Emmett. It's just that our sense of humour isn't sick and perverted like yours." Rosalie said.

**She would make sure I had a long and painful death.**

"I'm considering giving you one right now." Bella said, glaring at Edward.

"Giving him what, Bella?" Jasper asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"A long and painful death!" Bella screamed in Jasper's face.

"Damn, I thought it was something else." Jasper said. He looked at Emmett and both of them started laughing like crazy.

"Something else?" Bella hissed.

"Oh, you know. Many things you could give Edward." Jasper said.

"Jasper, my warning goes to you as well." Esme said.

"Oh, man!" Jasper said.

"Actually, Esme is a woman." Alice pointed out.

"Anyway, I was referring to me strangling you." Bella said innocently to Edward.

"Actually, Bella, you can't kill a vampire by strangling him." Emmett said. "Want some help?"

"I would love it." Bella snarled.

"That's why I like her." Emmett said, smirking.

"I was trying to protect you." Edward whimpered.

"Is that what you call _protecting_? Guess what _Edward_, I call it _stalking_."

"Er...should I continue reading?" Jasper asked.

"Yes!" Bella and Edward said together.

**Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. I wonder what I can do...**

"Many things, Eddie. Great many things." Emmett said.

**Well, all I know is that I have to make it special. Looks like here is a new family moving in next to Bella.**

"Ephraim!" Bella said, all her anger disappearing.

"Why're you so happy about that?" Edward asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Because it's nice to have a guy who _isn't_ a stalker talking to me." Bella replied.

Edward smirked. "You are _so_ wrong about that."

"Please don't tell me that Ephraim was a stalker, too!" Rosalie said.

"No." Edward said. "It's worse."

"A werewolf?" Carlisle asked. "He turned into a werewolf when he was thirteen?"

"No, not a werewolf," Edward said, "Even worse."

**Black family, I have never heard of them before. They have a son and daughter. The son is about my age. Hope he's ugly.**

"Now you're the one who's wrong." Bella said, smirking.

Edward gave a disbelieving snort and turned his head away.

"Oh, Edward got bit buy the jealousy bug." Jasper said.

"Why'd you let him get bit by the jealousy bug, Bella? You are so _mean_!" Emmett said, putting his face in his hands and making crying noises.

Rosalie muttered something that sounded like "immature oaf" and "should have let the bear maul him".

"That's it." Jasper said. "Who's next?"

"Me." Rosalie muttered.

"Try not to rip the pages out," Emmett suggested. "Passionate romance stories like this are hard to find."

"Sorry, bear," was all Rosalie said.


	25. A Bouquet For You

**I hate Ephraim Black.**

"Of course you do." Bella muttered.

"Oohh, a fight!" Emmett said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Edward rolled his eyes.

**I hate his filthy hair, his evil eyes and his stupid guts. **

"Filthy hair and evil eyes?" Bella shouted. "Edward Cullen, you know perfectly well that he doesn't have either!"

"I was angry." Edward said, looking livid.

**I came over to Bella's house today. It's Valentine's Day today. **

"What did you bring with you, Edward?" Emmett asked, smirking at his brother.

"You'll see." Edward hissed.

"Wow, bet it's a big fight." Jasper said.

"I don't need to be a psychic to guess that." Alice said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

**I had a large bouquet of Bella's favourite flowers- freesias. I picked them myself from our garden after three hours in the scorching heat. My hands are full of cuts and my knees are scratched from kneeling on the grass but at least the flowers look pretty. I'm sure Bella will love them.**

"Aww!"Alice cooed.

"That is so sweet of you, Edward." Esme said, smiling.

Bella smiled despite herself, and then she frowned. "I didn't get them."

"No." Edward sighed.

**I even tied them with a nice lace ribbon. Bella loves those things. I wanted to buy some chocolates for her but I thought it would be too much. But anyway, I was walking on the streets with the huge bouquet and when I came near Bella's house, I saw that the new family had already moved in. A boy was standing on the front porch, leering at the bouquet.**

"Ephraim!" Alice cheered.

**I guessed this was Ephraim Black. I would've stopped to say hello to the new neighbours but I wanted to see Bella right away. I was almost going to ring the bell when the boy stopped me.**

"Stop calling him boy, Edward, he's your age." Bella said.

"Oh, look, Bella's talking to a book now." Jasper said, snickering.

Bella glared at him.

"**I guess it's for the pretty brunette?" he asked, smirking.**

"Jealousy bug is getting nearer and nearer...run, Eddie! Run before it bites you!" Emmett screamed, pushing Edward.

"Ugh! Emmett, get your paws off me!" Edward groaned.

"It's a masculine hand, not a _paw_." Emmett muttered, but he took his paws off Edward anyway.

"**Yes." I answered.**

**Why should he bother?**

"**You're too late." the boy snickered. "She's got one already."**

"Oh man! One point to Ephraim. The score is 1-0." Jasper said. "Tough luck, Ed."

"**From who?" I snapped.**

"**Me, obviously." the boy said.**

**Resisting the urge to punch his smug face was the hardest thing I had ever done. The only thing that stopped me from beating the living daylights out of him was my Bella. If she ever saw me get violent, what would she think? And that too, in her porch.**

"Boys." Esme sighed. "Always getting into fights."

"He was provoking me!" Edward said.

"**You don't even know her." I snapped.**

"Good point." Alice said.

"**I think I know her enough to tell that she likes me a lot." Ephraim said, the smirk back in place.**

"**No she doesn't." I said.**

"**How would **_**you**_** know?"**

"**I've been her best friend for **_**years.**_**" **

"**That doesn't matter. She likes **_**me**_**."**

"Disgusting. Thirteen year boys fighting like children..." Rosalie muttered.

"**No, she does **_**not**_**!" I yelled.**

**Ephraim was the first to start it. He grabbed the bouquet and threw it on the floor. I punched him in the stomach and then he stamped on the flowers, crunching them.**

"One point to Edward and Ephraim. The score is 2-1." Jasper said. "Edward fight back, man!"

"I will." Edward said, smirking.

"Idiots." Bella and Rosalie muttered.

**Three hours of scratches, sunlight and bruises for nothing. How can I not be furious? My sweet Bella wouldn't get her flowers now.**

**I hit him in the eye. He was so shocked, his expression was almost comical. I would have laughed if I wasn't so angry.**

"2-2, it's a tie!" Jasper screamed.

**He tried to make a grab at my hair but before he could, I pushed him on the wet grass and ran to the front door. I closed it behind me and locked it, just in case.**

"Edward, that was very wrong of you to do that!" Esme scolded. "If you ever do anything of that sort-"

"Relax, Mom, I won't. Bella's mine now." Edward said, grinning.

Bella groaned. "Not anymore if you call me _yours_ again. I'm not a friggin piece of property."

"Sorry, love," Edward said, smiling at her.

**Bella gasped when she saw me.**

"**Edward, are you okay?" she asked, quickly running over to me.**

"**Of course I am." I said, smiling at her.**

"**You have blood on you." Bella said, wiping my forehead.**

**I would hit my head repeatedly every day and bleed it, just to have Bella's fingers touch my forehead like that.**

Rosalie made gagging noises. Bella smirked at Edward.

"**It's okay, I fell." I said.**

**It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either.**

"**Humph. You always get hurt." she said.**

"**Look who's talking." I joked.**

**She glared at me. It's funny when she tries to look angry. It's like watching a kitten trying to act like a tiger. So adorable.**

**When I turned my head, I saw a bouquet of yellow daisies on her desk.**

"**What's that?" I asked.**

**Bella's eyes widened and she blushed a deep shade of red. I was almost distracted by her beautiful red cheeks.**

"Oohh, the bug definitely bit him. Does it still hurt, Eddie?" Emmett asked.

"Occasionally." Edward said, looking at Bella.

"**Flowers, stupid." she said. **

**She moved to the table and took the flowers in her arms, like she was trying to hide it from me.**

"I was," Bella laughed.

**She wasn't even watching the floor. She tripped on a book lying on the floor and fell on her face.**

"Bella, you naughty girl, trying to play damsel in distress, are you?" Emmett asked, shaking his head.

"Shut up." Bella muttered.

"**And you say **_**I'm**_** clumsy." I muttered as I lifted her off the floor.**

**Her cheeks turned even brighter. **

**From the corner of my eye, I saw that the yellow daisies were fresher and larger than the flowers in my bouquet.**

"Who's next?" Rosalie asked.

"Me." Emmett said, taking the diary from her.


	26. Apologies

It's almost been a year since I updated and I miss writing this story terribly. All the reviews, alerts and favourites encouraged me a lot and I am so, so grateful for all the happiness my readers gave me...

Currently, I'm doing a different version of **Diary of a Young Vampire** in fictionpress . com under the same title and penname Psycholips. It still has vampires :D I want to finish that story first, and then I'll get back to this one. I've got a four-month holiday coming up so I'll be adding new chapters pretty soon!

Lots of love,

Isabell2324


	27. The Symptoms Start Showing

Emmett grinned like a maniac while taking the book from Rosalie.

"And so, the epic love story starring our very own Edward and Bella continues," Emmett said in his reading voice.

"Emmett," Rosalie growled.

"What, it's true!" said Emmett indignantly.

Edward didn't say anything, he was wondering about all the stupid things he had written and hoping that Bella would overlook what was about to come.

**I tried to take my mind off Ephraim Black, but it just doesn't work.**

"What, Eddie, are you in love with him too?" Jasper snickered.

"That makes two of you," Emmett added, looking at Bella.

"I was not in love with Ephraim, idiots," Bella said, shaking her head.

"Could have fooled me," Edward whispered to himself, but was unfortunately heard by Esme, who smiled sadly at him.

**In some part of my mind, I know that Bella likes me a lot more than she likes Ephraim, because we have been best friends since forever, – **

"_Likes_ you?" Bella said in surprise. "I _loved_ you!"

Edward bent his head down, looking flustered. "You could have just said that! It would have saved me hours of overanalyzing your feelings for me!"

"I didn't tell you anything because – because I thought you liked me as a _friend_!" said Bella.

"But I made it pretty obvious, didn't I, with the flower and all?" said Edward.

"Edward, I am very sorry to tell you this, but if we're going to judge your love by looking at flowers, then Ephraim comes first," Jasper said, trying to look sad.

Edward just glared at him.

**-but you should hear her talk about that good-for-nothing, diary. It's as if he's the breath of oxygen she got after several long minutes underwater.**

"That's a very pretty image," said Alice. "Ever considered being a poet, Edward?"

"Oh, yes, about that –" Bella started to say, but was interrupted by Edward, who furiously shook his head.

"What, Bella?" Emmett asked, eager to know the secret.

"Nothing," said Bella, meeting Edward's horrified eyes and giggling. "I'll tell you later."

**And then last day, she told me about the secret passage between their houses. I swear, I would have set it on fire if I wasn't worried about Bella's room catching fire. **

"Edward!" Esme and Carlisle said together.

"I was jealous," said Edward, shrugging.

"Yeah, mom, the bite of the jealousy bug is hard to heal. It starts with a small sting and spreads to the whole body, consuming every thought..." said Jasper in a very professional way, as if talking about some serious disease. "It takes trust and a declaration of everlasting love to heal. The main symptoms are shakiness, insecurity and an extreme desire to-"

"-set things on fire," Emmett completed. "And yes, a tendency to resort to violence, as we witnessed before."

"You should have been a doctor," Alice said to Jasper, looking impressed. "I think you missed your calling."

"I think you all need to have your heads bashed in," said Edward, trying to hook his arm around Bella's shoulder. She shrugged him off, and he pouted at her.

"No touching till you stop thinking about hurting Ephraim," Bella said sternly. Rosalie, Alice, Jasper and Emmett snickered at this.

"Hey, look at the next entry," Emmett said, holding up the diary for everyone to see.

The words were penned roughly and without a care, and apparently the pen had been pressed hard into the paper, because lots of small holes covered the dusty page.

**I knew that Ephraim Black was trouble the moment I laid my eyes on him. This time, he managed to single-handedly ruin my relationship with Bella. Long story short, Bella's mother found out about her crush on Ephraim, and like me, she was infuriated. I can't really blame her. Ephraim isn't really a practical choice for her, is he?**

Bella glared at Edward.

"I meant that we're perfect for each other, but Ephraim's not right for you," said Edward innocently.

Bella gave him a small smile and nodded at Emmett.

**Now she's being shut in her room, and her only comfort, Angela, has been taken away as well. I'm allowed to visit her, but Renee has warned me to keep the visits short. Of course I can't have that, so I came to my mother to ask her to soften Renee up. And guess what I found out!**

"**Well, Renee was right to keep her from Ephraim," my mother said. "She's too young for this."**

"**And also Ephraim is not really good company," I added.**

"**No, he's not," my mother said, smirking. "But why would you think that?"**

"**I just don't like him," I lied.**

"**Renee can't stop you from visiting. There's really no point in it," my mother said. "Can you keep a secret, Edward?"**

"**Yes," I said immediately.**

"Ooh, secrets, I love secrets," Emmett whispered excitedly.

Bella and Edward rolled their eyes at him.

"**It's because she intends you two to get married somewhere in the future," and saying this, she smiled and just walked away.**

"Engaged from birth," Rosalie said with a smile. "This could have been a tragedy if you two weren't so much in love with each other."

Emmett understood that she was thinking about herself and her fiancé from years before, and knowing that she would need it now, he put his arms around her.

**All that worrying for nothing. Unless Bella does not want to marry me, in which case I will leap off a cliff.**

"Don't be so dramatic, Edward," Esme said, looking upset.

**I hate not seeing her every week. It makes me scared, thinking about all that time she'd be alone in her room. I would have gone crazy by now. She's upset about Ephraim, I can see that well. I wonder if I should tell her about how he's been eyeing Vanessa, that butcher's daughter. She probably doesn't need more trouble, so I guess not. **

"That's very thoughtful of you," said Carlisle, looking relieved that his son had decided to do something sensible at last.

**She deserves so much better than this. I want her to be happy. Sometimes, I think that she would be happier with Ephraim. **

"That's not true," said Bella. "You know I'm happier with you."

Edward looked at her and grinned like an idiot. "I thought I wasn't good enough."

"Don't be stupid," said Bella, finally moving closer to him.

"Close your eyes, kids, things are going to get a little intense from here," Jasper mockingly warned them all.

He, Emmett and Alice dutifully covered their eyes, while the other three merely looked away.

"So, how about a kiss?" Edward asked, looking ridiculously hopeful. "Wait, I'll give you a deal. I'll trade one of my heart-melting kisses for your diary."

"You want to keep my diary?" Bella asked, frowning.

Edward nodded.

"Fine," said Bella, wrapping an arm around his neck. "But how will I know if it's a fair exchange? I don't really remember any of our kisses, and the last one was sort of a blur."

"How about a free simple, then?" said Edward, cupping her chin.

Emmett and Jasper coughed hysterically in the background.

Bella nodded, and Edward leaned in to kiss her. This went on for several moments, until at last they pulled apart.

Bella looked like she had gone to heaven and had come back.

"Sold," she said in a defeated sort of way.

"You two are so sweet together," said Esme, proudly looking at both of them.

"Hey, Jasper, I just realized what we have to do when we want to stop Edward from reading our minds," said Emmett.

"What's that?" asked Jasper.

"We just have to convince Bella to kiss him into oblivion," said Emmett. "Isn't that right, Edward?"

Edward glared at him. "Why don't you continue reading?"

"There's nothing else on these pages other than your raw hatred for Ephraim Black," said Emmett, snickering at him. "Who's reading next?"

"Me!" said Alice, taking the diary from him.


	28. The Mysterious Guardian

**Renee's dead.**

"Much to everyone's relief," said Rosalie.

Bella shook her head. "I know I'm supposed to be sad about it, but I-"

Edward held up a hand to silence her. "We understand."

"Yeah, Bells, some people are just not worth the trouble," Alice reassured her.

**Bella cried a little, but I couldn't tell if it was from relief or sadness.**

"Of course I was sad, Edward! But not because she died, but because I lost who I wished she would be," Bella explained.

**That stupid Ephraim Black was also there. He just stood in a corner, looking solemn. I'm sure that he had seen how beautiful Bella had grown up to be, and regretted ever deserting her. He and Vanessa are fighting a lot, or so I hear from the women who gossip with my mother.**

"You listened to gossiping old women," said Alice, laughing at Edward.

"I needed information," said Edward, trying to act as if it was not a big deal.

**Not that I care about them.**

"You pretty much dedicated your last two entries to Ephraim," Carlisle pointed out.

"That's much more than Bella got, I think," said Emmett, wiggling his eyebrows. "Anything you'd like to tell us, Edward?"

"Yes," said Edward, and Bella looked at him in horror. "Rosalie should have let the bear rip you apart, because now I'm going to have to do it myself."

"Edward!" Esme scolded him.

"Don't worry, mom, he won't do anything," Emmett reassured her.

"Yeah, he's too much of a _well-refined-goody-pants_ to do anything like that," said Jasper.

Alice and Bella started giggling at that.

**Not when there's something much more important than Ephraim Black's idiocies. **

"Like you assaulting Bella," said Rosalie.

Edward gave her a smouldering look.

**It started with my mother being all nice and motherly with Bella after the funeral. After listening to their conversation, I made up my mind about the question I was going to ask Bella soon.**

"You were already planning on proposing to me?" Bella asked with a smile.

"I couldn't wait to put a ring on your finger," said Edward, smiling back.

"Are you sure that's all you wanted, Mr Well-Refined-Goody-Pants?" Emmett asked him in a serious tone.

"Not everyone is like you, Emmett," Edward replied crossly.

**I asked her to go for a walk with me.**

"You didn't ask, Edward," said Bella. "You pretty much bossed me around."

Edward pouted at her.

**She took my hand when I offered it to her. It wasn't the first time we were holding hands, but it felt different somehow.**

"It's the universe giving you an omen about the disaster which was soon to come," said Jasper.

"I love those kinds of disasters," said Edward.

"I didn't," said Bella, and when she noticed how distraught Edward looked, she added, "At least, not until the second time."

"I'm guessing the second time wasn't an assault," said Rosalie.

"No, it wasn't," said Bella, laughing. "But if you insist on calling that first time assault, then I assaulted him right back."

"You're both criminals," Emmett said.

"But then if loving my Bella was a crime, I'd be guilty for eternity," said Edward, making several people, especially Rosalie, groan at the cheesiness.

**I looked into her pretty brown eyes. **_**Say it, **_**my mind begged me. **_**You can do this. Say it.**_

"**Bella," I said.**

**She merely looked confused, so I said her name again.**

"**I really like you, Bella." I told her, after five years of practicing those lines. And then I realized that I'd lied to her.**

"**No, take that back," I said. "I love you."**

"I wish I'd said something more than just a stupid _oh_," said Bella, biting her lip.

**I saw **_**relief**_** in her eyes, diary, and I knew that she loved me too. She had always loved me. So I kissed her.**

"You just assumed that I loved you," said Bella.

"No, I knew it," said Edward.

"You can't know that unless you're Jasper," said Emmett.

Edward rolled his eyes at Emmett. "It might surprise you, Emmett, but some of us don't need to be empathetic to know how others feel."

"Speak for yourself," said Emmett, half-heartedly looking at Rosalie.

**I could tell that she was shocked at first. But then she kissed me back. And at that moment, diary, I knew that if I died right there, I would still be the happiest man alive.**

Bella frowned, thinking about the impending deaths of her and Edward's families.

**I walked her home, all the while knowing that we were being followed.**

"What?" said Bella, shocked.

"I think it's better if you find out in due time," said Edward. "You don't have to know all that history right now."

**After I made sure that she was safely home, I took the shortcut to my house, hoping that whoever it was would be following me.**

"You're not a vampire yet, Edward, it's dangerous to be hoping for something like that," said Carlisle.

"I really don't know what's wrong with you people, but advising vampire Edward now will not have much effect on the human Edward," said Rosalie matter-of-factly.

"Er...yes," said Carlisle, looking slightly embarrassed.

**He was right behind me. **

"I bet it is Ephraim, with his wolfish powers and ready to beat the daylights out of Eddie," said Emmett.

"He hadn't turned into a werewolf then," said Edward. "That was almost five years later." He looked a bit grave as he said that, and Bella wondered what she'd missed.

**I've never see that man before. He was extremely pale, almost like he'd lost all the blood in his face, golden eyes-**

"-and his name was Carly the Bad Vampie!" finished Emmett with a flourish.

"It wasn't me, Emmett," said Carlisle, looking amused.

"Aw, shucks," said Emmett, pouting.

**-and he had dark hair, a shade similar to that of Bella's. I couldn't help but think of Bella, no matter what object or person I was looking at. He wasn't wearing an expression of hostility, but looked merely curious. **

"**Can I help you?" I asked him.**

Jasper burst into laughter. "Edward, when a strange man follows you into an empty street, _that's_ what you'd ask? What do you expect he'll say, 'Oh, yes, please. I would appreciate it very much if you hold still so that I can slit your throat, steal your wallet and run away without causing a scene. Thank you for your cooperation.'?"

"None of those things happened," Edward said indignantly.

"It could have," said Rosalie, looking both angry and scared. It was obvious to everyone there that she was thinking of her own experience in an empty street with a man, or several ones.

"You know, babe, sometimes I'd wish you had kept them alive," said Emmett. "At least I could have had the pleasure of killing them."

"But_ I_ did," said Rosalie, looking eerily dangerous. "And you should be happy with that."

Emmett nodded solemnly.

"**Well, yes, you can," he said. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is William."**

"William!" Alice exclaimed. "The vampire who changed me?"

"Yes," Edward said shortly.

"**And what can I do for you today, Mr. William?" I asked, forcing myself to sound polite.**

"**I couldn't help but notice you at Mrs. Swan's funeral," he said, coming straight to the point. "You seemed to be quite close to her daughter. Isabella, am I right?"**

"**Yes," I replied, already wondering what I was supposed to do if he wanted to court my Bella.**

"Oh, Edward, you possessive little idiot," said Alice, sounding almost amused.

"I really dislike this William person," said Jasper, surprising everyone. "I really am thankful that he gave Alice a new life, but I don't understand why he's trying to steal all our mates away from us." He added the last point while looking at Edward.

Edward gave a small chuckle. "It's not what you think, Jasper."

"**Are you two engaged, then?" he asked, looking very serious.**

"**I really don't see how this is any of your business, Mr. William," I said, forcing myself to remain calm.**

"I have a feeling that the trouble's going to start now," said Jasper.

"**Oh, it is definitely my business, Edward Mason," he said.**

"**How do you know my name?" **

"**I know everything about you, Mason, and everything about your family. You intend to marry Isabella Swan. You are going to ask her soon, aren't you?" something in my face must have given the answer away, because he nodded, smiling. "Well, here's what I have to tell you. I know you're of the possessive sort. You get angry very quickly. But keep in mind, if your emotions end up hurting Isabella in any way, I will make you wish that you were **_**never born**_**."**

"_Rude!_" Emmett said. "Someone teach that man some manners."

"Who is he?" Bella asked, looking scared. "I don't remember anything about him, except the letter he sent me and how James killed him while he was trying to save Alice."

Edward looked down, unable to meet her eyes. She wouldn't be pleased when she learned the truth about William.

**And then he was gone, just like that. One moment he was there, the next he was gone.**

**I would have been scared about him, or I would have hated him, if he hadn't seemed so concerned about Bella. I searched around the adjoining streets for quite a while, but I could find no traces of the mysterious William. Whatever the case, I will be on the watch from now. He seemed to like Bella quite a lot, but if he was stupid enough to think that I would ever hurt my Bella, then he is definitely not a person I will like in the near future.**

**On a lighter note, the ring is polished and ready. I cannot say the same for the proposal, however. Wish me luck. **

"I'm scared now," said Esme.

"You don't need to be, mom, Edward's all fit and vampire-y now." said Emmett, patting Edward on the elbow.

Alice smiled and handed the book over to Emmett, who accepted it with a whoop of delight.


	29. What Happened 94 Years Ago

"You're not going to tell us who William is any time soon, are you?" Rosalie asked Edward.

"No," he said, looking sideways at Bella. He knew that she'd probably kill him when she found out. Anyone would be furious if such a big secret was kept from them.

"How many more entries till we find out who this William person is?" asked Jasper.

Edward just smiles at him.

"Alrighty then," said Emmett, holding the book closer. "Big help that grin is, Mister Prudish," he added with a scowl.

**Of course I couldn't ask Bella about who William is. What if she doesn't know, and I frighten her with the news of this strange man who is following us and threatening me? It's just not worth it. **

"We could've found out together," said Bella, hurt.

"I didn't know if he was dangerous, Bella," said Edward. "I was not going to take that chance."

"But I could've handled him," said Bella.

"No, you couldn't have," said Carlisle. "And neither could Edward. You were both humans, and he was a vampire."

Bella just huffed at Edward and folded her arms over her chest.

**Instead, I decided to find out on my own.**

"Now there's a great plan right there," said Emmett. "This is going to be an epic disaster."

"Your confidence in my research abilities are heartening, Emmett," said Edward in a dignified voice.

"Why, you're welcome, Mr Well Refined Goody Pants," Emmett replied, mimicking Edward's voice.

**William was wearing a special kind of coat, I noticed. It had some kind of fur on the edges, in a shade of brown I'd never seen before. This was the only thing I noticed that differentiated him from all the other people in our town, other than the pale skin and golden eyes. I would have deduced that he was related to Dr Carlisle, but the good doctor –**

Alice, Emmett and Jasper burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Edward asked, confused.

"I don't believe it," said Rosalie, trying to hide laughter herself. "You called Carlisle the _good doctor_."

"So?" said Edward. "Isn't he?"

"Sure, Edward. Whatever," said Alice, patting him on the shoulder.

**- has no family, since his parents died a long while back, and he is unmarried. **

"And now he has seven family members," said Esme, smiling at him.

**I had no one but my mother to ask about the coat. She listened carefully, and then nodded with understanding.**

"**I thought you'd remember, Edward, you were with me when we saw such a coat for the first time," she said.**

"**I don't remember," I said.**

"**You were only ten years old then. We saw a shop that sold the loveliest coats in Biloxi."**

"Biloxi," said Jasper. "So he was there once. That's when you two met."

"And I must have told William all about Bella!" said Alice, smacking her forehead. "That's why he went to find her."

"Doesn't anyone else notice how strange it is that Edward hangs around old lady shops even when he was seven?" asked Emmett, earning him a punch from Edward.

**Biloxi. That's where Bella had gone on vacation once. That was where she'd met Mary Brandon. Bella still keeps contact with Miss Brandon, so perhaps there might be a chance that she knows William. But I'm still not willing to ask her.**

"You are such a moron," said Bella, hitting Edward on the head.

"No more entries after this," said Emmett, looking at Edward. "Just a bunch of papers printed in Biloxi which mention anyone with the name William."

"Nothing useful, at least," said Alice, peeking over his shoulder.

**Caretaker Suspended**

**July 2, 1917**

**The directors of a caretaking facility on Sunday suspended one of their registered nurses, a Mr William Higginbotham**

"Wait, Higginbotham? Where have I heard that name before?" asked Bella. "Come on Edward, tell me," she said to him after seeing his worried face.

"Your mother's maiden name," said Edward, not able to lie to her anymore.

**-after he was accused of malpractice. Mr. Higginbotham was reported earlier by fellow staff after that they noticed that on several occasions, he refused to give proper treatment to certain patients.**

"So basically he got suspended because he didn't let those idiots hurt Alice," said Rosalie, looking furious. "And they have to cover up the real story with all those fancy words!"

**The accused was also reported to have spent excessive time with his patients, often bringing presents to his wards, which is against the hospital guidelines. He was taken to –**

"The article ends here," said Emmett. "But we got all the important parts."

"So William is related to me," said Bella. "But I have only one relative called William Higginbotham, my mother's brother, and he died when I was thirteen, and he was in his sixties."

"William was in his twenties," Edward tells her.

"Is he related to me?" asked Bella.

Edward just looks at her.

"Bella," said Alice suddenly. "You said that James was trying to kill me and then William saved me. Right?"

Bella nodded.

"Can you tell us a bit more about what happened there?" asked Jasper, catching on to what Alice was implying.

She nodded again.

"I had some money on me when I left Chicago, and I used up most of it trying to dig up information when I reached Biloxi," she said. "All I had at first was the grave of Mary Alice Brandon, who died in somewhere in late 1917. So I searched all the newspapers of that year for the announcements of any deaths from the Brandon family..."

"And there was none," said Jasper, looking furious.

"No," confirmed Bella. "They didn't keep many hospital records back then, but I never looked anyway."

"Because they would never keep Alice in a normal hospital," sighed Esme. "They put her in that horrible place which claimed to be a proper mental health centre. How did you find the asylum?"

"There was no asylum in the place where Alice used to stay," said Bella. "I figured that her father would want her away as far as possible, so that he wouldn't get a bad name –" almost all the Cullens were looking as furious as Jasper by now – "-so I searched for any such places nearby. And I got the name of an asylum three counties away, so I went there."

"And do you remember meeting William?" asked Alice.

"I barely remember anything that happened after I reached the asylum," said Bella. "All I knew was that you were trying to escape with William. I didn't get a good look at him. I heard you say his name. You were bleeding a lot and...He was biting you all over. I thought he was the one hurting you, but it turned out that it was the hunter who was dangerous."

"The hunter James," said Edward.

"Yes. James was wounded. I think William ripped out one of his limbs, or he wouldn't have stayed still for so long. He was in pain, but he was still screaming about how he'd get Alice, and that if Alice ended up being a vampire, he'd kill them both," Bella looked quite distraught by then, so Edward clasped one of her hands on his own, "James was recovering, and quick. That's when I realized that William was trying to help. But then James sensed me around. He asked them, 'Is this the sister? She smells just as sweet as you.' And then he jumped on me."

"And you don't remember anything after that," said Rosalie.

"No," said Bella, looking incredibly sad. "Alice had lost so much blood, so I thought I'd either find her dead or a vampire...but I saw no one. William and James weren't there, either."

"But then, how did you know we were in Forks?" asked Carlisle.

"I didn't know if Alice was vegetarian, like me, so I had to look at it both ways," said Bella, looking uncomfortable. "At first, I searched for reports of deaths where the bodies were drained of blood."

Alice looked down at her feet. She had killed humans before, when her thirst had gotten out of control. Before she had the vision of her meeting the Cullens and Jasper, she'd been completely lost.

"I first got a lead on you in New York, 1933," said Bella, looking at Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie.

"When you killed them," said Emmett, looking at Rosalie.

"Yes, but by the time I reached there, you'd disappeared. I didn't think Alice was with you, but I thought that if Alice was a vampire, then perhaps a vampire family would have seen her somewhere," said Bella. "And then I found some reports of animals completely drained of blood in Philadelphia."

"That's where we met," said Jasper, suddenly grinning at Alice.

"1948," said Alice. "That's when I first started having visions of us joining the Cullens, when I started feeding on animals. I wasn't as careful back then."

"It took me too long," said Bella. "I missed you again. I found you in Denali a few months back. The Denali coven told me where to find you...and here I am. The only reason why they trusted me was because I remembered Alice."

"Aren't we all missing something here?" asked Jasper, and Alice nodded.

"It's obvious that William was the one who changed me," said Alice, in reply to the questioning looks they were getting, "But who changed Bella? It couldn't have been James, he would've drained her. William was already dying by then. But why would he want to change Bella?"

"I suppose for the same reason that he warned Edward not to hurt her," said Rosalie.

"Because he wants to keep her safe. And alive," said Jasper. "But why?"

They all look at Edward, who hasn't spoken anything for a long time. He just shrugs.

"You'll find out," he says.

"But what about that James? He said, 'Is this the sister?' What did he mean by that?" asked Emmett.

"He was after Alice because her blood called to him," said Bella. "That's what he kept yelling at William. He knew a lot about Alice, so he probably heard that she had a sister. He must have thought that I was her sister."

"But if that's true," said Alice. "What about my real sister, Cynthia? If James escaped, then he would have tried to find her."

Bella grinned. "Already took care of that. I went to Biloxi after I was changed. I found your sister there. She had no idea what was going on, but she listened to me when I told her that I knew you."

Alice smiles, thinking about the sister she never remembered.

"I told her that you were safe, and that if you ever came by, I asked her to tell you that I would be searching for you. She could see that my eyes were red, so she guessed that neither of us were humans anymore. It told her to be on her guard, that a man might come for her. I described James to her, and then I left."

"Oh, Bella," said Alice. "You really are the best."

"I went to check up on her occasionally," said Bella. "She died a few decades back in her sleep. She has a daughter who's still alive."

"We'll never know what happened to James," said Jasper.

"And William," added Esme.

"One of them must have survived," said Bella. "But if it is William who won the fight, then we have to find out who he is before finding him."

"It's probably William who won," said Jasper. "If he had the time to change you, then James should have been dead by then. But that leaves another question."

"Why did he leave us both?" asked Alice quietly. "And never try to contact us again, after almost giving up his life trying to save ours?"

"Then read on, and find out," said Emmett, handing her Edward's diary.


	30. Sad, Brooding, Scared and Tittering

**So there were no advancements in my research on Bella's mysterious guardian. At least on my part.**

**Apparently, this William Higginbotham – if that really is his real name – is not the kind of secret admirer who keeps his feelings secret and instead tries to drop occasional hints.**

"You might not have noticed, Eddie, but none of us is a complete wuss like you," said Emmett.

"I was not a wuss! I even fought with that clay-for-brains werewolf!" said Edward indignantly.

"Clay-for-brains _what_?" asked Bella.

"Werewolf," said Alice. "Didn't you know?"

Bella shook her head. "Ephraim was a werewolf? Why didn't he change? Carlisle was around there at the time."

"But thankfully, they change only when several vampires are close," said Carlisle. "Which was not the case in Chicago."

"But Ephraim, a werewolf...I mean, I've met some of them, and they aren't the friendliest bunch," said Bella, looking nauseous.

"That's their problem. They're either your worst enemies or they get a little too friendly," said Edward, with half a glance in Bella's direction. This earned a lot of snickers from Jasper and Emmett.

"I don't see a lot of werewolves getting too friendly with you," said Bella, looking at Edward.

"Actually, Bella, you won't see _anyone_ getting too friendly with him...if you know what I mean," said Jasper, shrugging nonchalantly.

Edward glared at him.

"Don't be too hard on him, Jazz," said Alice. "Girls are actually suckers for the sad, brooding type."

"_I'm_ the sad, brooding type," said Jasper in a ridiculously pathetic voice.

"No, Jasper, you're the scared, tittering I-can't-wait-to-get-out-of-here-and-go-home type," said Emmett. "Also, girls go for the sad, brooding, _single_ type. Which you're not."

"Why are you both even talking about this?" Rosalie asked.

Jasper and Emmett realized that they had been having a fight about their desirability in front of their soul mates, and this coupled with the expression on Alice and Rosalie's faces immediately shut them up.

**Bella got a letter from her friend Mary, who, despite their very short acquaintance, has become one of her very close friends. She was very excited when she got it, but as soon as she began reading, I knew something was wrong.**

"William wasn't the most sensitive person when he wrote that," said Alice.

"_Wasn't the most sensitive person_? Some would call him almost cruel," said Rosalie.

**Her eyes became these huge orbs of brown and –**

"Here we go again," Emmett groaned.

"Here we go _where_, Emmett?" asked a confused Bella.

"You know, the freakishly creepy and elaborate descriptions about your...ah...anatomy," said Jasper, looking down. "He tends to do it a lot, don't you think?"

"You're just jealous because you can't do it as well as him," said Bella, sticking her tongue out at the two of them.

"That's a good thing; I'm pretty sure Rose isn't attracted by stalker-ish pieces of literature by an equally stalker-ish person," said Emmett, nodding solemnly.

This earned him a punch by both Edward and Bella.

**I swear I saw her cheeks flush five different shades of red.**

"Either you have very good eyesight or you're the creepiest person in North America," said Rose.

**I asked her to show me the letter, but she refused, shaking her head like a scared little lamb and instead crumpled up the paper and threw it into the fire. Needless to say, I was scared out of my wits.**

"**Is this Mary person threatening you?" I asked her.**

"As if!" said Alice, glaring at Edward.

"**What? Of course not!" said Bella, looking extremely flustered.**

"**Then what's bothering you?"**

"**Mary's in a bit of trouble," said Bella, looking down.**

"Isn't she always?" said Jasper, looking adoringly at the vampire in question.

Emmett made a gagging sound behind his hand.

"**What kind of trouble?" I asked.**

"**The serious type," said Bella, and now she looked positively furious. "And it's because of my mother! Even from under the grave, she wants to keep ruining my life!"**

"**Tell me what happened," I urged her.**

"**No, no, it's nothing," she said. "You don't have to worry about it."**

"Wow, Bella," said Emmett. "You win the award for being the most frustrating person ever."

"Actually, it's a tie between her and Edward," Jasper reminded him.

**Of course I had to worry about it. I hate seeing Bella upset, especially because of something as seemingly inconsequential as a letter. I didn't pressure her to tell me the problem, of course.**

"Smart boy," said Esme, smiling at Edward.

**She would definitely blow up if I did, and though her anger is a beauty to behold, I don't want to be on its receiving end.**

"My anger is _beautiful_?" Bella sputtered.

"Isn't it?" asked Edward eagerly, pointing to Bella's face.

"You're kind of cute when you're mad," said Jasper, smirking. "You look like a kitten about to slash at a hundred-pound Alsatian."

"_I'll show you how cute I can be_,_ you scared, tittering, I-can't-wait-to-get-out-"_

"Can we please get on with the reading?" asked Rosalie, looking very bored. "At least diary Bella and Edward have more sense than their present counterparts."

**I've had no further visits from Higginbotham. I have a huge suspicion that he was the one who sent Bella the letter. I didn't ask her about the contents of Mary Brandon's letter, but I could always ask her about the author. I waited for a few days, just in case.**

"**Is Mary all right, Bella?" I asked her.**

"**No." She said, and her shoulders drooped.**

"**You want to help her, don't you?" I asked her.**

"**Of course I do!" said Bella, and to my horror, I saw her eyes fill up with tears.**

"Agh, I hate it when they start the waterworks," said Emmett, looking positively terrified.

"I can't cry tears," said Rosalie, surprised.

"Yeah, but you act so well that I almost believe you can," said Emmett, earning him a punch from a certain blonde.

"**Then we will," I said. "Help her, I mean."**

"**How?" she asked, looking so miserable that it almost made me want to cry. **

"**By going to Biloxi?" I suggested.**

"That would have been fun," said Alice. "Edward and Bella bursting into any asylum, trying to save me."

"Won't be that hard, both of them do look a bit crazy. They'd easily be mistaken for patients," said Emmett.

"**Edward," said Bella, eyes wide. "How could we **_**possibly**_** go to Biloxi together?"**

"**Well," I said, looking down. "We could go there for our...ah...honeymoon."**

"You jerk!" said Alice, hitting Edward on the head. "Is that all you can think about? You just _had_ to turn my rescue mission into your honeymoon, didn't you?"

"I didn't know how else to propose to her!" said Edward, wincing at his sister's onslaught.

"I could think of other ways," said Emmett reasonably.

"Oh, shut up, Emmett," said Rosalie, grinning. "He asked me if I wanted to _do this thing_. Can you believe that, Bella? 'Do you want to do this thing?' _That_ is seriously what he asked me."

"I don't have the creativity and...er...observational skills that our Eddie has," said Emmett, looking at his feet.

"**Have you gone mad?" Bella demanded.**

"You realize that _now_?" said Jasper, shaking his head.

**To erase her mind of any doubts, I kissed her.**

"I bet you did it _just_ to clear her mind," said Alice, snickering.

**Looking right into those beautiful chocolate brown eyes, I asked her, "I promise I'll love you every single day, Bella. Every single day. Will you marry me?"**

**She looked so shocked, so much that I thought she would pass out on the spot.**

"I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you, you fiend?" asked Rosalie.

"Of course I'd like it," said Edward with a devilish grin. "I'd be able to play her knight in shining armour by catching her."

"You were already my knight in shining armour," said Bella, giving Emmett another chance at a sickened groan.

"**Yes," she whispered when she came back to the real world.**

**And then we kissed some more. I swear the whole world brightened tenfold. My world, at least.**

**Our parents (Bella's father and my parents) took it as the perfect opportunity to try the new bottle of champagne, and we celebrated throughout the night. I could sense Bella's look uneasy a few times. Perhaps it was the alcohol, but I would put my bet on the Brandon girl's letter.**

"Silly Alice, ruining their perfect moment," said Emmett, playfully smacking Alice.

"You didn't have to worry about me, Bella," Alice said gently. "I would've wanted you to be happy."

"I know that now," said Bella.

"The next entry covers the influenza part," said Carlisle. "And look, our friend William seems to have made an appearance here."

"William was in the hospital?" said Bella.

"Yes," said Edward. "He saw me and my mother."

"Did he talk to you both?" asked Esme.

Edward nodded. "You were sleeping, Bella. And Carlisle was in another wing at the time. William made sure of that."

"I want to read next," said Bella, eagerly grabbing at the diary. "Will it say who William is?"

"Soon," said Edward, frowning.

* * *

First post this year. Let this be the first among many. You might have noticed that I changed my pen-name to Psycholips. Author is the same, I assure you. And as usual, thank you for all the wonderful reviews. They pretty much keep me going :)


	31. The Plan

**Everything was going so well.**

**Bella and I were supposed to get married.**

**We were supposed to go to Biloxi, where we'd be truly alone as a couple for the first time, where we could go and look for Mary Brandon, Bella's friend who she still pined over -**

Alice smiled sadly at this.

**-and hopefully would make Bella forget the terrible loneliness and abuse she suffered while Renée was alive.**

"Did this William person know what Renée was like? Seeing that he was a relative or her or something," asked Alice.

"I don't think he knew for sure," said Edward. "But after seeing Bella in the funeral, I think he guessed."

"How would he know about Renée's death if he was in Biloxi at the time?" asked Rosalie. "He got suspended around that time, right?"

Edward would have turned red if he had been human.

"He was spying on me, wasn't he?" Bella asked a little angrily.

"I wonder what it is about our Belly-boo that makes guys want to stalk her," said Emmett in a wondering tone.

"Maybe it's the hair," said Alice, smiling.

"Maybe it's the clumsiness," suggested Jasper.

"Maybe it's Maybelline," said Emmett, earning him a smack from Bella.

**And now we were lying on hospital beds, staring at space for some time, turning our heads to look at each other only when we had the strength to.**

**My mother barely moves anymore. Every time I look at her, a small part of my heart crumbles. If I look at her again, I might go mad.**

**Instead, I looked at my Bella, who looks pretty even with a frown over her face.**

**I can tell that she's worried. Again.**

"**Don't be scared," I told her.**

**She looked unconvinced.**

"**Nothing will happen to you, love. You're going to be all right," I whispered to her.**

**I barely had the strength to move my lips, but I needed to let her know that she was safe.**

"I'm not worried about myself. I don't want to l-lose you," she stuttered.

"That's the exact opposite of how I felt when I first met him," Emmett muttered sarcastically. "I couldn't wait to lose him."

"You said I was _interesting_!" said Edward in an accusing voice.

"Interesting, as in, what-the-hell-kind-of-person-is-this interesting," said Emmett. "You were freaky even then, man."

"I'm not freaky," said Edward, hurt.

Jasper and Alice snickered at this.

"**I'll always be there for you, Bella," I told her. "You won't lose me."**

"_You won't lose me_?" said Rosalie. "Hmm, that's not stalkerish at all."

"Would you let it go?" said Edward, exasperated. "I'm _not_ a stalker!"

**Truth was, I couldn't bear to lose her.**

"**I'm scared of losing you," I said.**

"**You won't," she promised me.**

**I spent the next few minutes stroking her cheek. It wasn't long before she fell asleep.**

**Every time someone falls asleep, I pray that I'll see their eyes open one more time. How long can I go on like this?**

"Not long," Carlisle sighed.

**Just as I was preparing to enter the world of slumber, someone stepped into the room.**

**Other than the few doctors and nurses who treat us, we haven't seen a healthy person in a long while. Most of them prefer to stay safe in their homes, away from the polluted air of the hospitals.**

**But that didn't mean that I was happy with my visitor.**

**In fact, Ephraim Black would've been preferable.**

"Why do you always drag Ephraim into everything?" asked Bella, amused.

"Ephraim left a hole in Eddie's ego, Bells," Emmett explained. "This is the only way he can hope to fill it."

**William stood next to my bed, but his eyes were on Bella's sleeping figure.**

**He looked more than a little troubled.**

"**How is she?" he asked.**

"**Better than the rest of us, thankfully," I said. "You shouldn't be here."**

"**I won't catch the virus," he said simply. "And how are **_**you**_**?"**

**I shrugged.**

"**You were looking for me," he said. "What did you find?"**

**I just looked at him. I had no energy to speak.**

"**The only place where I am mentioned is the newspaper from Biloxi," he said, looking quite calm. "The girl I saved. It was Bella's friend, Mary."**

"**Why?" I choked out.**

"**Two reasons," said William, smiling slyly. "One, because Mary Alice was living a life that she did not deserve. Second –**

Alice smiled at this.

**-because, your Bella blamed herself – or her mother – for Alice's imprisonment. I don't want her to be distressed because she feels that way."**

"**Why does she matter to you?"**

**William smirked. "Why do you think, Edward Masen? I have watched over Isabella Swan and her family since she was a child. I tried to do my best to make sure she was not hurt. I will continue to do this as long as I am alive."**

"**Are you a relative of hers?"**

"**Of course," he said.**

"**How?"**

**William smiled. "You remember dear old Renée, don't you?"**

**I nodded.**

"**I know that Renée hurt Bella. Isabella suffered a lot because of Renée, and I'm sorry to say this, but the only reason Renée was so angry was because of me," said William, taking deep breaths. **

"The only reason Renée was angry was because she was a pig," said Rosalie.

"**Why? Were you her lover?" I asked him.**

**He chuckled. "Of course not."**

**Right then, Dr. Cullen walked in.**

"Oh, man!" Emmett moaned. "_Bad_ timing! _Bad_ vampie!"

Carlisle looked at him in surprise. "I was checking on my patient."

Emmett merely pouted.

"**I'm afraid you need to leave, Mr. Higginbotham," said the doctor, smiling kindly at the man. "You're wearing poor Edward out."**

**But only then did William turn.**

**And as he did, I saw the doctor's eyes widen. Before he could react, William had grabbed Dr. Cullen by the throat.**

"That jerk!" Rosalie yelled.

"I don't remember any of this happening," said Carlisle, looking perplexed.

Edward stared at him, looking as guilty as a child with his hand inside the cookie jar.

**And then William looked the doctor in the eye, saying firmly, "You will forget that I was here. You will forget all about Isabella. You will take care of Edward here, and leave me to take care of Bella."**

There was dead silence in the room for a while.

"This was..._planned_?" Bella whispered. "He was planning to save _both _of us?"

Edward pursed his lips, knowing that anything he could say would only make the situation worse.

**The doctor nodded, his eyes glazed as if he were in a trance.**

"**You will not survive the night," said William, giving me a harsh look. "And Isabella will undoubtedly want to follow you to the doors of death."**

"**She won't," I snapped.**

"**Of course she will," said William. "And I can't let that happen. For now, I want **_**you**_**-" he looked at Dr. Cullen, "-to make the necessary arrangements. Isabella will survive, and when she does, she'll want to find her friend."**

"He knows you better than I do," said Edward, his voice tinged with sadness and surprise.

"**I will protect her while she is on her journey to Biloxi," William continued, "while you teach this one how to live...peacefully."**

**I had no idea what he meant. Dr. Cullen did, apparently, because he was nodding every time William ended a sentence.**

"**Meeting Alice is not without dangers," said William.**

"How true," muttered Jasper, smiling fondly at the love of his life, despite the tense atmosphere.

"**- but I doubt that will change Bella's mind."**

"_Nothing_ changes Bella's mind once it's fixed," said Edward.

Bella smiled at him.

"**If Bella is in danger –"**

"**She's not, not right now," said William. "But she will be, soon. You don't need to worry about that."**

"**Of course I need to worry. She's my –"**

**William silenced me with a look. **

"**There's a very, very dangerous man by the name of James," said William.**

"So they had already met," said Alice, frowning.

"**And already Alice is in danger from him. When he learns about Bella, she will be his next target."**

"Who is this person, King of Cryptic?" muttered Rosalie.

"No, Rosie, that title belongs to Eddie here," said Emmett. "Eddie, who refuses to tell us the juicy details, either because he's a coward, or because he's scared of Bells."

"They're one and the same, Emmett," said Jasper, and the two started laughing, much to the annoyance of the others.

"**Why?"**

**William ignored me.**

"**You don't need to worry about Bella," he said. "I'll take care of her. She won't be in any danger. I won't let James hurt her."**

"**What's your reason, William?" I asked him.**

"**I owe it to her," said William. "I couldn't protect her from Renée. At least I can try and protect her from James."**

"**Who is this James? Why is he –"**

"**You need to rest," said William, scratching his chin. He looked at Carlisle. "Remember what I told you."**

**Dr. Cullen nodded. His eyes still had the glazed look.**

"**You didn't tell me –"**

"**James," said William, looking me in the eye, "is my father."  
**


End file.
